Meta-Fic Alt: Rising War
by GNRCUsernaym21
Summary: Inspired by YukonWolf's Meta-Fic series and the events of the Ship Wars over on the RWBY subreddit! The 4th annual Ship Wars is about to begin. Every year, Nations send in their best and most influential figures to represent their interests in the hopes of attaining more power and influence for their Ships.
1. Chapter 1

Before we begin, I'd like to explain what this is for those poor people that stumbled into this on accident. This is a Meta-Fic about the events of a Tournament held on r/RWBY about ships. This fic, written by Blasphe-Me5564, is about the events that happened during that competition with a _little _dramatization!

So, thank you Blas, u/MelanieAntiqua (The wonderful hostess who put up with all our crap), and u/Yukon_Wolf (the original author of the Meta-Fic for Ship Survivor, a similar contest on the subreddit).

With all that said, Enjoy!

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**_"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee."_**

_**We all awoke with these words embedded into our souls. With similar, recurring visions and memories of people we haven't identified yet, we woke up. Confused and distraught, we banded together to survive the night, and that made us stronger than ever. Soon, many more appeared all with the same words, all with the same memories of these people who we aspired to know more about. We called the people in our visions our Gods and we had religion. For a time, peace ran throughout this little corner of the world we had, bountiful in resources and full of life and happiness. But as all things exist, so too must they end. **_

_**After many months of unity and peace, overpopulation became a worry as space was running out and resources were finding themselves scarce. People suggested moving West, others East, some North, and many South. So they did. And thus, expansion began and new land was found, new civilizations began.**_

_**Around this time the people began to find new ways of praising their Gods. While some enjoyed praising one God, some found it more enjoyable to praise two Gods together in a more…intimate way. **_

_**Needless to say, with all our Gods and new ones appearing every yearly cycle a plethora of new religions and factions would form. For a time, our disagreements were civil but all of that changed when a new resource was found deep in the mountains of present-day Olde Arkos Province: Braggtonium. **_

_**Braggtonium, or Bragg for short, is an interesting element. It has a certain...power over whoever holds it; said to instill pride and honor at just knowing you have it near you. Now used to power our intergalactic Ships and new weapons, back then it was nothing quite that big but still a very sought out resource. After its discovery many used it as a nice ornament to have in your prestigious Nation's capitol and an interesting conversation piece if you were so lucky as to own it personally. Then, rumor has it, a dispute between two factions marked the first time people were driven to fight for their rights to Bragg. Which two factions it was depends on who you ask, but one thing is known: Life on the Sub would never be the same again. **_

_**Years of conflict ravaged the sub and left it in ruins. A quick armistice was made and held so as to stop the destruction of the sub as we all know it.**_

_**But all hope is not lost, for even if we're separated and fighting, odd friendships and bonds like no other can find themselves in the oddest of places. **_

**BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!**

"Hu-wha?" A young man opens his eyes to the annoying blare of the ship's safety alarm being set off. He lifts his face slowly from the pages sprawled out at his dashboard as they stick to his cheek on account of the dried drool. After wiping away the papers and wetness from his face, he examines the maintenance notice that has popped up on all possible screens.

'_Engine Failure. Danger level: Critical_' White text reads out over an alarmingly bright red screen. The young man looks at it with disinterest in his eyes. He would be more alarmed if this was the first engine failure message he had received this trip, sadly, it was not. He stood up from his seat and stretched, not too worried about the alert. He walked up to the door of the cockpit area and scanned his ID to open it, groggily, he made his way into the resting area.

The ship that the Lancaster High Council gave him to complete his mission was a newer version of the ship he used back in his old position as a scout. New, however, doesn't mean most recent. The ship was a single person scouter ship with a passenger's seat shoddily attached. The Course Furtif v14 was a prime ship made for scouting back in its glory day, fully equipped with a camouflage mode, a few guns for the off chance it gets found, a one-person living compartment with rations to last a year if spread out correctly, a desk for writing down scouting reports, a book shelf he insisted adding in filled top to bottom with tactics journals and strategy manuals, a decommissioned Net-Comm device too old to function correctly, and a maintenance box in the corner to fix wiring issues silently and discreetly. A ship truly made for scouting. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't here to scout.

The young man, Generic, ruffled his unkempt, light-blue hair and walked towards the corner of the living compartment towards the ship's maintenance box.

This mission was different from his other missions, it was his first as a full-fledged Strategist of Lancaster…and it might also be his last. A simple scouting mission gone wrong caused the Lancaster High Council to spend resources on a full investigation on Arkos' new "Death Star" machine. Turns out, it was a balloon. A decoy meant to throw off any scouters who might want to spy on Arkos' plans for Ship Wars and it worked. So now, here he was, because of a possible chance that the conflict over on FNKI would lead to a clue as to what Lancaster's number two enemy is planning for Ship Wars. He was sent to aid the Cavalry who are fighting this odd skirmish strategy-wise, to end the war in time for it to not be a distraction during the Annual Ship Wars contest, and possibly gain a victory against a "Big Four" ship.

Finally, a chance for him to use all of his studies to use! Generic had waited for this moment ever since he enrolled for the Strategist-training program! He opened the maintenance box's door to look at the mess of wires and fuses and switches and circuits. After a look at the Net-Comm watch on his wrist, it gave him an update on the ship's condition. 'Engine Failure. Danger level: Critical'. Generic began tapping on the wall surrounding the box, listening intently for a difference in sound.

Thud…Thud…Thud…_Thwunk_!

He looked at the spot and after a few more checkup thwunks, slapped the wall. A new message popped up on his Net-Comm. _'All Systems: Optimal'_. He smiled at his handiwork and made his way back to the cockpit.

The young Strategist looked at the main screen telling him his destination. 53 minutes. He looked at the window and noticed a Red Dot in the distance, that must be it.

FNKI, the lawless sister planet of the RWBY sub. A place of chaos where nearly everything goes as long as some people agree with you, which makes his assignment an interesting one. Generic picked up his blue satchel and stuffed some documents on his dashboard. He picked up the one that had recently found a new purpose as a sponge for his own sleep saliva, examining it.

Blue Whale King.

Affiliation: Oligarch of Arkos, Monarch of Whales.

He looked at the water mammalian king's photo used to profile his case. The reason why Generic's job was on the line, why he could be pushed back to scouter duty if he fails and is just that lucky, and possibly his only chance at falling back on the High Council's good graces. How could one man, err…Whale, become so disliked in a matter of a day? Who exactly did he piss off? All Generic knows, is that Lancaster is involved somehow and that this might be a chance to knock a big rival down a peg.

Arkos was an interesting case, the nation celebrated when Volume 3 seemed to be going their way. Their mines produced vast amounts of Braggtonium which they used to power their Nation's Great Canon Cannon. A powerful machine that would make Arkos superior above all. Back before it was outlawed, the Big Four were hellbent on getting a leg-up on each other as the True Canon Ship. So, with their large resources they all decided on a large show of their power by building a machine capable of launching a concentrated beam of Bragg into the air! A vanity affair if nothing else, really. So off they set, each nation making a towering beacon as a race to prove who's the best.

This next part is hard to confirm and is only something gathered from hearsay, but rumor has it that Arkos' cannon fired off one mighty shot announcing its victory to the whole sub and then…silence. The mine ceased producing Bragg at that moment, reports of widespread facilities not working, half of the cannon broke off and soon fell. But now Arkos is rebuilt on a far away planet the best it can, and it seems to be doing fine on its own. With the Bragg mines producing again and the people as patriotic as ever, the Nation is in a time of peace until the Home World endorsed contests, in which case they adopt a neutral but powerful stance. A strategy that Generic can admire.

The Net-Comm Watch on his wrist produced a holo-image of a countdown. '20:00'. Generic had lost himself in strategy and plans again, he had the tendency to drift off at times and ramble on when he's focused. He turned his attention from the report in his hands to the Orange-Red-ish planet that seemed to get bigger the more his ship got closer. "FNKI…" he muttered under his breath.

The desert planet was thought uninhabitable once, now it thrives as an Oasis to the outcasts and the odd few that find the humor and comfort in pure chaos, uncontrollable and unrestrained. A natural calling for those who wish for more, whatever that may be. And for Generic, that more was power and respect. Nothing was going to get in the way of his Nation getting the recognition it so rightly deserves! Not some Nation that should've disappeared long ago, not some uncontrollable War, not even some Whale! Generic has one main goal; Get in, win, Get out. That's all.

Generic finished wiping his saliva off the profile report, stuffed it into his bag, turned on the Autoland sequence, and made his way to the living area to get the rest of his supplies. He was to meet with someone the second he arrived to have him debriefed on the state of the War and from there he would offer up his tactics and strategies for a victory.

The strategist looked at his Net-Comm '04:49' it calculated the time until his ship would land. Generic glanced at the gun on his desk. An old Ruger holding at most 3 bullets. It was his only weapon…not like he'd need it…right? He picked up the revolver and emptied out its chamber. After looking at the weapon closely he decided to stuff it into his bag as well.

After a semi-rough landing the ship's side door pulled down to make a ramp. He shielded his eyes to block them from the intense sun that dominated FNKI's desert climate. He could see the outline of a jeep and its driver, and the silhouette of a man who seemed to hold an air of authority. Generic smiled. "Let's take this Whale down!" he cheekily said and stepped down the ramp.

_**But be wary of who you count your friend and who you make your enemy. You never can be quite sure when a person can give into their deepest fears or desires.**_

A hooded figure looked out at The International Ship Wars Ambassador's Hall on the RWBY Home World. A smirk donned on his face as he made his way to the entrance. The figure pulled out a pocket watch and instead of reading the time, held it to his ear and listened to the mechanical gears clicking and whirring in a neat, fashionable order. Tick-tock. Tick-tock. Tick. Tock.

"Well Carl, it appears that we have a lot of work cut out for us, huh?"

_**And what might come of it when they do. **_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2! Before I forget, new chapter uploads every Friday! Enjoy _(° U °)b_

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_**There will always be constants in this universe.**_

_**Tick…**_

_**So it stands to reason that War too, also has its constants.**_

_**Tock…**_

_**Constants give us something to anchor our lives to.**_

_**Tick…**_

_**It keeps us grounded so in an ever-changing world; we may have some stability to hold on to.**_

_**Tock…**_

_**But there are those who dislike the comfort that constants bring us. **_

_**Tick…**_

_**Those who wish to see that perfectly imperfect normality**_

_**Tluck!...**_

_**Crumble. **_

The robed figure stood in line at one of the many registrar's booths set up outside of The International Ship Wars Ambassador's Hall. That man was the infamous hacker known as Celtic_Crown. The simple brown robe that he donned was Celtic's own way of protesting the facade his well-groomed and uniformed peers decide to put on every year. Plus, the extra pocket or two did not go unappreciated.

The line was long and full of people who Celtic immediately recognized from past conflicts. Nitesco from the Cargo Shippers clan, Prime Minister of Guns and Roses. Jannis, Champion of White Rose and fighting for The Church of White Rose's glory. Celtic felt a smirk tug at his face.

Fools the whole lot of them. So used to the comfort of their power that any upset to their expectations might break out in a riot. But the only ones who have that power are the most popular and larger Nations. Nations like White Rose and Bumblebee. And thus this hierarchy is made, so that those with the most power just have to wait for their turn to win, while the weak have to fight claw and tooth to survive in this system. A system so fundamentally corrupted that it is damn-near impossible to change the outcome of this War.

Not this year though, this year the Ship Hall will know what it means to see _True Change_.

Celtic looked up at the colossal building that was The International Ship Wars Ambassador's Hall, often just called the Ship Hall for time conservation, with a wide grin. The sleek, towering marble walls were a sight to behold with over 51 stories. When being built the building was created with many different architectural influences from many different Ships and Nations in mind, and it showed.

It was pretty, in its own chaotic and uneven way. And maybe that's what made it such a nice thing. The whole building was made to show that even if things are different, if people and where they come from were different, together they can make something…pretty. At least, that's what the same pamphlet that was handed to Celtic every year upon entering the contest said.

The Ship Hall was built to bring some control to the chaos that is a Ship War. Legend has it that after witnessing the horror of War ravage her own Nation first hand, Melanie Antiqua proposed to the mods to hold a tournament for the Nations to fight in a controlled area annually to limit the number of conflicts and casualties to the nations and related subs that would normally take place without the competition.

The numbers don't lie and conflicts have gone down drastically after Grand Hostess Melanie began hosting the tournament. So now annually, the entire sub celebrates this event by sending their Champions and Representatives to fight in the War and win the main prize in their Nation's honor.

"Next person, come up please."

Celtic noticed he was up and walked to the stand where a woman was typing away at the holographic computer in front of her. She stopped typing and faced the robed man. "Hello! Welcome to th-"

"The International Ship Wars Ambassador's Hall, yeah, yeah. Look, here's my ID," Celtic interrupted the registrar, reached into his overcoat's pocket jangling some metallic items and pulled out his old, tattered ID. "I'm an Ambassador for Renora." He simply said and picked up the registration form over the counter, much to the woman's surprise and began filling it out without the need of instruction. "Let's see, Name…Nation…Net-Comm number…aaaaaand done!" Celtic filled out the form so quickly as if it were pure muscle memory at this point and offered it to the clerk who snatched it out of his hands to look it over.

To her surprise everything was filled out perfectly. Caught off guard she scrambled for the stack of pamphlets on her counter top. "Uh…right! P-please make your-"

"-way to customs to declare any and all contraband you may or may not hold. Thank you for your participation, have a _wonderful_ Ship War!" Celtic rushed the woman up and made his way over to customs completely ignoring the pamphlet she offered up to him.

Celtic neared the customs station that was set up a few feet away from the entrance of the building and looked around. There was your typical metal detector, the tough looking security guard who could drag you away if you caused any trouble, and not to mention the security camera that was oh so carefully "hidden" in the false bird's nest in the gardens area. To the side was a conveyor belt with small baskets to place your items that may set off the metal detector, needless to say, whatever was in the baskets was going to be looked into.

'_Yeah, no way I'm putting it anywhere near here.' _Celtic thought as he began placing his electronics and other metallic miscellaneous items, all except for his most precious item. He rifled through his pockets and touched the item in question. '_But then again, I could set off the detector and that'd be a pain to deal with…'_

"Hey you! Quit holding up the line!" The security guard snapped Celtic out of his trance with her fierce glare and tone. The hacker made a split-second decision and had decided not to take out his treasure but also kept his Net-Comm watch on his wrist. He tapped it twice and the device turned on.

"Do your stuff Carl…" Celtic breathed out and began walking towards the metal detector.

The normal user interface glitched and made way for an emoticon face. _(° u ^)7_

Celtic did as the security woman said, not wanting to get beat up this early in the tournament. The robed man walked through the metal detector successfully without setting it off despite his treasure poking him on the hip. He made his way to the end of the conveyor belt to pick up his items and to discreetly look at his Net-Comm.

_b(° U °)b _. The face had changed, even without Celtic touching his device.

"Good job, Carl. Let's hurry up and see if we can catch a glimpse of who's going to participate this year." _(9°ʽ^ʼ°)9 _"That's the spirit. Who knows, we might even get some new arrivals that will really shake things up this time." Celtic spoke to his wrist with some hope in the back of his mind and walked towards the entrance. "Yeah, I feel it. This year is different, change will co-OHFF" Celtic was cut off as he bumped into something that knocked him off balance resulting in him on the floor.

"Well! If it isn't my old friend, Celtic!" A voice spoke. Celtic's eyes opened and looked up to the figure towering above him.

"Oh hell n-"

"And right on time too!" The man, who was holding a clipboard in one hand and a pen in the other crossed something off of the paper and turned back to his "old friend" on the ground and extended a hand towards him.

Celtic looked up at the hand and scowled. "Old friend…" He stood up without taking the man's help and dusted himself off. "Listen, Inferno, I've got a lot of things to do and I feel like another argument with you would be counter-intuitive to those things. So I'll just go ahead and not even try today!" Celtic was about to walk away when he heard the scritching sound of pen on paper. He immediately turned around to find Inferno finish scratching something off his list with a smug smile. Celtic contemplated the benefits and downsides of falling into Inferno's very obvious bait. He sighed. "Alright, I'll bite; What's with the clipboard?" the robed man pointed at the device in his "old friend's" hands.

"I'm so very glad you asked, Celtic! For you see!" he turned around and pointed at the sky.

"Oh Gods…" Celtic murmured, already regretting his decision. _(- m -) zZZ. _Carl entered sleep mode.

"A vision came to me during my sleep!" Inferno turned around to face the man. "Do you know what this vision, granted unto me by the Goddesses themselves, revealed to me?"

"That you should really go to the Doctor again and see if you still have Ship Surviv-itis in your system?" Celtic quipped.

"Hahaha!" Inferno's long trench coat of a uniform's highlights began to flare up red contrasting with the whiteness of its base color. His golden medals clinked against one another as they settled after a while on its black patch of soft cloth that was meant to decrease clinking and contrast the yellow gleam of the medals. "Oh Celtic, you and your jokes!"

"It's not a joke, Peter said that if they persist after the estimated time you need to seriously get yourself checked out…"

"It's nice that you care for me-"

"I do not!"

"But I can guarantee you that I am not ill! In fact, I've never felt better than at this very moment!" Inferno held his hands up in the air for a dramatic flair.

"…Carl," _(! o !)7_. The little AI rose to attention. "schedule a doctor's appointment for Saturday."

"I'm serious!" Inferno turned and pointed to man. "The vision showed me that this Ship Wars, Pollination will have holy glory as it should and the Inter-RWBY ships will hold more power than ever before!"

Celtic's scowl came back. "On second thought, Carl, cancel that appointment. There's nothing good to save." Celtic turned around.

"The vision showed me everything! It foresaw this very conversation and the result!" Inferno called after the retreating hacker. This peaked Celtic's interest, and as always, got caught up with Inferno's banter.

"Bull. Shit. There's no way you know-"

""How this conversation ends."" They both say at the same time much to Celtic's shock and Inferno's smugness. "Told ya."

Celtic growled.

""Lucky guess, there's no way you can do..that…again…STOP IT!"" The two got closer to each other as they both began saying the same phrase simultaneously.

"Geez you guys are annoyingly loud!" A voice interrupted the grade school-like argument. A slightly older and regal man wrapped his arms around both of the bickering "old friends". "I swear, I could hear you dolts all the way from over the Registrar's booth."

The man was Captain Outcast Munkee, Captain of Eisberg but fighting for Seamonkeys this Ship Wars on account of Eisberg not doing so hot in the preliminaries.

Celtic struggled to be released from the man's hold, and failed. Inferno didn't. "Ah! Munkee! Just the man I wished to see in a few seconds!"

Munkee just looked confused. "Uh…"

"I wouldn't even try today, he's off about some prophetic shit or whatever." Celtic pushed on the man's strong arms again to no avail.

"It's not _whatever_! It's the sign I've been waiting for! My patience has been awarded by the Gods and now Pollination will reap the benefits!"

Munkee released his hold on the two. "Well it's always so good seeing my friends so chummy with each other so early in the competition." He rolled his eyes.

"Whatever! You'll see! You'll all see! This will be the year of Pollination!"

"Yeah, you totally don't sound like a psycho!" Celtic sniped back and turned around for what felt like the fifth time.

"Hm? Oh hey, Celtic, what happened to your crown?" Munkee pointed to the top of his head.

"Oh yeah! I was going to ask about that very same thing!" Inferno piped up with a smile on his face. "What happened to your false crown." He teased.

Celtic froze up and stopped in his tracks. "…I…lost it…during Ship Survivor when…" Celtic began shaking.

Munkee looked worried. "Oh…Celtic, I didn't realize…"

Celtic turned to face the two men, anger in his eyes and determination in his features. "Take heed of my words!" Celtic yelled. "This year, change will come! It might not be by my hand, but change is happening this year! Clinging to your outdated beliefs will only hinder your ability to see the truth!"

Everyone had turned their eyes to see what all the commotion was about. "Jeez, you're just as bad as him!" Munkee face palmed and tried to calm down his friend.

"No! We are two very different forces! I am an agent of change, he's the personification of that which I oppose! Mark my words, I will lend my power to all who oppose this false and corrupt system! And know that his year, I _will_ WIN and the sub _will_ CHANGE!"

"…" Inferno looks at his list then crosses something off. "Celtic has a breakdown about change, check!"

Celtic balls up his fists and storms off.

"Inferno…" Munkee turns to face his friend, disappointment clear on his features.

"What?! He talks all this big talk of change but he is one of the most consistent things in this contest!" Inferno defends himself. Munkee just gives him a disapproving look. "*sigh* I'll apologize some other time! Look, it's on the list!" Inferno flashed the list briefly before clutching it to his chest just as quickly.

"But as for now, I have other people to meet, and every second is planned out! I'm a puppet of fate at this moment, and I know she will reward my nation kindly!" Inferno began walking off. "Oh, and before I forget, I have a surprise for you before the first round starts! See you around!" Inferno waved goodbye without turning.

"A surprise?!" Munkee was caught off guard as Inferno walked away. "Last time you gave me a surprise, half my fleet was hospitalized for the rest of the competition!" Inferno didn't stop walking away, leaving Munkee in a rough position. "…Fuck…" he looked between his two friends walking away and decided to go after one of them.

_**While it is true that constants keep us tethered, they are also very easy to fall into and very hard to escape. After all, a comfy life makes for a softened foe. And while a change is good every once in a while…**_

Inferno walked into The Ship Hall looking around with a sense of Deja-vu at everything that was around him, he had seen it all before both in his past experiences and in his vision. He looked at the walls around him and soon found what he saw in his dream the night before. An odd-looking man, with a simple uniform of brown and Red, stood in front of the posters of all the Gods.

The man looked at the poster of the Goddess Ruby, petals surrounding her as her most trusted weapon was unfurled in all of its shining glory, with much more focus than any of the others.

The man sighed with a smile on his face. He fidgeted with something in his palm.

"AH! Nitesco! Just the man I wanted to see and right where you're supposed to be!" Inferno made his way over to the strange man. The man turned to face the Ambassador of Pollination.

"Oh, hello Inferno!" the man stuffed whatever was in his palm into his breast pocket.

Inferno smiled and scratched out another item off his list.

_**You must also be careful not to change that which you love too much,**_

After walking for a bit, Celtic turned the corner swiftly and pulled out his treasure in his coat's pocket. '_An old, battered crown_,' He thought, '_for an old, battered king…_'

He held the crown in his hands and felt a great sadness come over him.

Rusted, spikes bent or chipped off, slight bullet marks grazing the temple areas, and a rather big Braggtonium Crystal, cracked in the center of his crown. He ran his finger along the cracked crystal taking time to feel the sharp turns and schisms that dulled the crystal's natural shine.

He sighed and stuffed it into his coat's pocket with a renewed sense of determination.

_**to the point where it isn't that anymore.**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Impulse and desire are two of the strongest forces in war. When you desire something strong enough you are willing to bleed and fight for it. Impulse is sometimes associated with desire, and with good reason too. Often times our desires are restrained by our fears and insecurities, but impulse offers us the temporary courage we need to achieve our desires. It's all connected.**_

_**With Impulse and Desire in the helm of your war campaign, any opponent should fall at your feet, right? **_

Nitesco stuffed the item into his pocket as he saw Inferno approaching out of the corner of his eye. "Oh, hello Inferno!" He turned his attention away from the posters to face Inferno.

"Admiring the beautiful artwork, I see." Inferno placed his hand on the Prime Minister's shoulder and turned him to face the posters once more. He eyed the posters of his four Goddesses, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang. "Aren't they captivating? Truly, the most beautiful thing together?" (RWBY)

Nitesco grinned. "They sure are." (Ruby and Crescent Rose)

"Regardless, I came here to finish the discussion we started yesterday. Face-to-face." Inferno's hand remained on the man's shoulder.

"Good! Shall we head over to the dining area? I hear they're having a bottomless shrimp bucket deal!" Nitesco began leading the man as the hand remained on his shoulder.

Inferno's face scrunched up. "Uhm, a sale on fish items isn't always a good thing…"

_**It'd be difficult to deny the power impulse has on people, it's fuel that powers movements like no other. An impulse decision may be the spark that ignites the raging fires of war and from there on the momentum carries the war to its glorious victory…or its tragic demise.**_

Celtic wandered over the hall aimlessly. He was heading…somewhere. He forgets. Right now, he was uneasy, unfocused, replaying the last few minutes in his mind over and over.

'_This year, change will come!'_

He turned a corner.

'_Clinging to your outdated ships will only hinder you to see the truth!' _

He furrowed his brow and ignored the buzzing coming from his Net-Comm \\(° A °\\)!

Celtic's face became heated.

'_And know that his year, I will WIN and the sub will CHANGE!_'

Celtic's legs gave out and he landed on his knees. He covered his face as it became redder.

"AAAAHH!" Celtic cried out as he caved in on himself. How could he have said something so embarrassing? And in front of everybody too! He shook himself out of the embarrassment pushing it to the deepest recesses of his mind. It was an old trick he'd learn in all of his years doing Ship Wars.

See, Celtic had done stuff like this before, always led the fight against the biggest most oppressive power. Garnered support, made allies with many-a user. But it always seemed to end the same. Defeat.

There could only be so much trust one can rally before people want results! It was the classic story of The Boy Who Cried Beowolf. This wasn't just about him however, no, it never was! It seems he is the only one to ever have the spirit to cause change, to even want it, even!

He's the voice of all the oppressed people! If no one believes in him, then everyone will have to live in a world with no other options! Celtic could be down in a ditch for all he cares, he just wants people to realize there's more! This Ship Wars might be the last chance for people to believe!

Celtic could feel the despair crawling down up his spine. He could talk all day about change, and he can keep fighting until his body gives way. But can anyone else? If his run ends here, will all hope of change be gone with him? Celtic's breathing began to pick up. He felt cold all over his body.

"There you are Celtic!" Munkee turned the corner and found his friend keeled over. "First you and Inferno are on some prophetic shit and then you both leave me behind? What in the hells happened during Ship Survivor?!"

Celtic stayed for while in that position but slowly started to rise. "I…I'm sorry. Ship Survivor was tough. My memory is still a blur from the haze of it all. I just…" Celtic's voice hushed.

"I know, Celtic." Captain Munkee straightened out his uniform. Politics was never really his scene, but he could fake it for long enough to at least make it to the war part of Ship Wars. "That stuff you said about change, I feel the same way too."

Celtic turned to face his friend. "You do?" He recomposed himself.

Munkee nodded. "Sure. Not as much to shout it out in a public place where people will eventually attack me, but you know, in spirit. Silently." He flashed him a smile.

Celtic smiled back unknowingly. "Yeah. I do." Celtic felt a slight pang from his crown and he clenched his fists. "But unfortunately, that's not enough! Munkee, this year is going to be different I _feel _it, change _is_ coming!"

Munkee's smile faded away, replaced with a look of hopelessness. "That's what you said last year."

"Yes I know bu-"

"And the year before. Celtic, you've got to understand that there are just some fights you can't win." Munkee reached out for his friend but Celtic pulled back. "I know it's hard to see it now, but change will get here." He tried again and Celtic, again, pulled back.

"Not at the pace things are moving now." Celtic began shaking, flashbacks pushed themselves into his mind of conflicts past and some that have yet to arrive. He had witnessed so much war that he could practically envision a fight between any two nations and see all realistic outcomes. He had seen this so much that he had no plausible way of telling what happened and what was just his imagination. It was painful seeing all the loud noises, flashing lights, shaking grounds, and tumbling riots in such great detail.

Everything began cluttering his mind, loudly buzzing and banging inside his head. He needed something to calm him down! ANYTHING! Celtic covered his ears to attempt to ease the sounds, even if only a little.

"Woah, Celtic, are you oka-" Munkee was hushed as Celtic held up a finger to signal him to quiet down. Hesitant, Munkee obliged.

Celtic reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a pocket watch. He didn't even open it before shoving the device to his ear.

Tick…

He could feel the whirring gears mechanically sing a symphony for him. The sounds dispersed.

Tock…

Celtic's ears felt the cool, steely touch of the watch and the rhythmic thumping of the watch. The banging in his head hushed.

Tick….

He breathed in…

Tock…

And sighed out as the last of the memories phased out. He still felt buzzy but he could at least think.

The Captain looked at the former King and sighed. "Celtic, what happened to you…" No response. "Look, I know you want change but look what you're up against! What _we're_ up against! You saw this year's Volume, the Bees-"

"Don't." Celtic warned with one single word as he lowered the watch from his ear. "I already know what you're going to say. But that shouldn't matter!" Celtic began walking off. "If you truly wanted change, you'd be against them as much as I am. Change will not come for those who wait, it'll be found by those who search."

Munkee looked at Celtic's back as he went further and further away. He sighed.

_**Desire is, by definition, a longing for something so much, the self cannot stay sane without it. To truly want something, you must be willing to put your all into it. If not, then you should've remained seated in the first place. Some believe that if your desire isn't strong enough, then it isn't real.**_

Inferno looked at his Net-Comm watch, sighed, and turned back to the man he was in a "meeting" with right now. Nitesco was eating as many shrimps as he could have, bottomless meant bottomless and Prime Minister Nitesco was a man of principle, and right now his principle was finding out if there really was no bottom to these shrimp.

After finishing another plate, he ordered more, the waiter simply nodded and rushed off to the kitchen.

"So, as I was saying Nitesco!" Inferno jumped in before the next plate came in. "Vinpap's offer still stands; if the Nation of Guns and Roses and its allies, do decide to support Pollination in this war, we can provide the agreed Braggtonium amount and our assistance in future fights!"

The plate arrived and Nitesco seemed to weigh the options in his mind. "Obviously, we accept the offer as a Nation. For me personally, I'm still unsure because of-"

"INFERNO!" A loud voice came from the entrance of the Dining Area.

Inferno looked at his list. "Yep. Munkee wrath at 10:30!" Nitesco turned a sharp right to look at a wall.

"Where?!"

Inferno crossed another item off his list. Munkee began storming over towards the "meeting". "Ah Munkee, unfortunately I can't spoil the surprise so-Hgrk!" before he could finish Munkee picked him up by the collar.

"Alright, I better get some answers, what the _hell _happened during Ship Survivor?! Celtic just had a Godsdamn 'Nam flash back, and I've a feeling you are partly to blame. So, I better get some answers or my cannon's gonna be firing at noon."

"I'll tell you what went on!" Nitesco spoke but still had his head turned to the wall. He pointed in front of himself, hoping to land on Inferno. "Inferno got super-crazy and Queen-killed every single one of my armies!"

"Queen-killed?" Munkee turned to the odd man, already stuffing shrimp in his face at an awkward angle. With an eyebrow raised, he turned back to Inferno.

"Eheh…they're gonna write a book about it?" Inferno weekly offered and was let go. "Look, all I know is that we were all under the effects of Ship Survivor! We have little to no control of our actions!"

"Or bodies!" Nitesco added with a laugh, much to Inferno's displeasure.

"Well whatever it is messed up Celtic real bad."

"Hey! That's the price of war! If he decides to go off and face a crazy cult of unstoppable power, who the hell am I to deny him that right?!"

"What?"

Nitesco kept chuckling to himself. "Oh, nevermind Inferno! Dinner _and_ entertainment, I think I'm forgiving you already!"

Inferno turns to the odd man. "Thank you! The Nation of Pollination, welcomes your support!"

Munkee sighed. "Alright. Whatever it is you did, keep it a secret. I'm just looking out for both of you, the last thing you'd want is the wrath of the whole sub against you. Same goes for Celtic."

Inferno rolled his eyes. "Yes. Yes. And we thank you for that, bu-What are you doing?!"

Munkee sat down at the same table Nitesco and Inferno were having their "meeting". "What's it look like? I've had a long day, I haven't eaten anything since coming here, and frankly, you and I both know we'll keep disagreeing until you finally give and allow me to help both of you." He picks up the menu and opens it. "Now then, am I right to believe you're paying for all of this?"

Inferno frowned as Nitesco kept laughing. "I recommend the bottomless shrimp! It's quite expensive but we're not the ones paying for it!" Munkee looked at the menu item and nodded.

"Very well then, Bottomless Shrimp it is!"

Inferno's eye twitched. "We don't need you to take care of us! We're both adults, we've both been through countless wars. Who needs a babysitter when you're an adult anyhow!?"

Munkee's plate arrived. He simply pointed at Inferno and then began eating the (not really) free food.

_**Desire and Impulse. Put together are two very potent forces in war. Everybody knows this. And so they fear an army driven purely by desire and impulse, for they do not comprehend it.**_

Celtic stood on the outside of the Ship Hall; he held the pocket watch in his hand. Still trying to soothe himself from the outburst earlier. He held his hand up, only the tips of his fingers were twitching. Good.

He could still see the images of war, but they weren't as vivid. He could still feel the harsh winds of the battle field, but they weren't as strong. He could still hear the sounds of the hellscape, but they weren't as loud.

Celtic heard footsteps approaching and on instinct reached into his pocket to keep a hand on the Smith & Wesson in his pocket. Two people, by the differences in paces, and weight. One light one, and the other an unbelievably dense one. He breathed in and his hand stopped shaking, entering into a battle mode of sorts.

The two footsteps sounded louder.

_**And it is only human nature that we destroy that which we don't comprehend.**_

Tick…

Celtic could hear the watch, still in his palm.

"Carl." He spoke in a hushed tone. (° v °)7 "Get ready to call Inferno…"

Click…

He cocked his gun.

_**And we destroy it with all the desire and impulse we can mutter. **_

_**It's almost funny how child-like it is that fears drive us and how much it does, almost as much as desire and impulse. When come face-to-face with something we don't understand we reset back to a child's simple mind.**_

Something blue poked out of the corner and that was enough to trigger Celtic's fight or flight. Celtic fired with a steady hand. A loud bang erupted from the handgun.

With the shot fired, his mind completely cleared and for the first time in a long time, he felt at peace.

That peace was quickly replaced with a sense of doom as the shot left the barrel of the gun.

_**Who needs a babysitter indeed?**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**In all my years of doing this, I've learned that if you absolutely **__**must**__** have an enemy, you need to do it out of your own choice. Not because someone else tells you they are your enemy. Through your own experiences you need to grow as a person and meet new people.**_

Celtic's eyes widened as the shot fired. Time seemed to slow down just enough for him to see the bullet being fired towards the elongated blue and white object poking out of the corner. Celtic's mind reached for the bullet but his body was slower and was only able to make his arm reach after the bullet, and only after the bullet had already made impact.

The bullet made contact with the tip of the blubbery surface and knocked the object coming down with a twirl. Celtic rushed forward to attempt to help whatever he had just shot down.

"WHALE!" A voice came from the direction of where this "Whale" had come from, the other footsteps Celtic must've heard. In one swift, fluid motion he swerved on the tip of his foot to stand behind the body on the floor and pointed his gun at the incoming voice.

Celtic came face to face with a man in a pilot's suit with long, black hair. The man, noting that the gun was pointed at him, put his hands in the air revealing a gun of his own. One of odd design, sure, but a gun nonetheless.

"Son of a-" Celtic lowered the gun. "What do you want Strike? Your girlfriend need more target practice?" Celtic sarcastically asked and turned around. "Carl, don't call Inferno!"

_**And dislike them because of your own reasons.**_

"Hey! You just shot my friend!" The pilot, Strike, pocketed the gun.

"And I'm sorry, but I think that now we're equal! Your girlfriend shoots me in the head, I shoot your friend in the…What the fuck even is he?"

"A Blue Whale!" the body spoke, causing Celtic to recoil back in surprise. The Whale-humanoid rose up. "The King of Blue Whales to be precise!" Whale said proudly as he placed the crown that had been knocked off in his flip, on top of his head and began smacking the dust off of his uniform.

"…what…" Celtic could feel his eye twitch as he looked the uniformed Whale-humanoid up and down. Dressed in a fancy white uniform, donning a regal purple cape, and proudly pushing his chest up to show the gleaming Arkosian emblem on his uniform. He looked at the spot where he should've been shot at only to find the left side of his snout completely unfazed save for a slightly darker blue bruise on one area. "How…"

The Whale smiled. "Ah! Are you perhaps interested in how my fair Whale complexion has left me ungrazed to your puny gun!"

Celtic looked, still in wonder at the aquatic mammal in front of him. "A little bit, yeah."

"Well!-"

"We don't have time for this!" Strike cut in.

"Hey!"

Celtic smiled, seeing the Oligarch of Arkos slightly miffed. "Oh, I think we have time." Strike deadpanned and took a seat on some nearby grass.

"Great! Now, there are two things you need to know about my compact humanoid form!" Whale began as Celtic took a seat on the floor and Strike found a comfortable place on the ground.

_**Take two sworn enemies for example. Rivals to the bitter end. Arkos and Lancaster! Because it actually fits! The people of each nation don't dislike each other or consider the other enemies because they've met them, they do it because their Governments tell them they are supposed to be enemies!**_

_**That's no way to live! **_

_**Could you imagine disliking someone, whom you've never met, never even seen their face! And you only dislike them because their way of life is slightly different than yours! That's just ridiculous to me! Still, if things weren't like this, I wouldn't have much of a job. **_

_**And maybe that's a good thing.**_

40 minutes later…

"-and when the tissue compresses into a compact form so too does the space in between the molecules, making my skin tougher than Iron!" Whale proudly said as he noticed Celtic writing notes on a notepad.

"Wow, that is just, astonishing! Really. I mean, when you go into the in-depth history of the super-secret Whale Society, that was just awe-inspiring!" Celtic sarcastically said and finished jotting down something. "Well, thank you _so_ much for the lesson in Man-whale biology," he stands up and reaches into his pocket. "But I really must get going!"

Strike realizes what he's about to do and stands up too. "Stop!"

"Goodbye!" Celtic laughs as he throws something at Strike's feet.

Strike's charge is stopped abruptly as his feet get tied up and two round rocks hit his ankles simultaneously. "Hrk!" He hits the floor as he sees Celtic's retreating form. "Suck my Bolas, Strike!" He hears as Celtic makes a mad dash for the side door.

Whale bends down to untie his friend's feet. "Stupid ropes!" He begins tugging at it to little avail.

"Whale! There's not enough time! Javelin Strike! GO!" Strike commands. Whale nods and picks up the pilot with ease, grabbing him with two hands and like the name suggests, aims him like a javelin. "Ready…fire!" Whale finishes aiming and with his proportionate whale strength, flings Strike high into the air.

Celtic rushed as fast as he could without looking back. "Carl! Unlock the back door!" he yelled into his wrist. (! 0 !)/. The little program warned. Celtic looked behind to find nothing…and then looked up. "!" Celtic braced for impact as Strike crashed into him. After collision the two rolled into the nearby grass patch.

"Gert orf me!" Celtic says as his face is muffled by the grass.

"Not until you hear us out!" Strike wiggled to try to remain on top of him. He held one of Celtic's arms down with one hand and used the other to push his face into the grass.

"I cafn't hear ou ouff iff ou're on op od me!" Celtic tried to wiggle Strike off. Whale approached the two grown men wiggling on top each other. He smiled and pulled out his Net-Comm pad to snap a picture.

"Hehe, and that's going in my album."

"WHALE! Restrain him!" Strike pointed with his head to the side-pocket on his uniform.

*Click* "Alright." Whale reached into the pocket to pull out some high-tech looking rings and put them on Celtic's thrashing feet.

With one final push, Celtic wiggled off the man on top of him and made a break for it. "Haha! So long suckers!" he only got about a foot or two before his feet seemed to rush to stick to each other. "Oomph!" Celtic fell back to the ground. He looked up to see Whale untying Strike's bindings as the pilot held a remote in his hand with a smug grin on his face. Celtic still struggled and attempted to crawl away as Strike and Whale approached from behind.

"And _you_ suck _my_ magnetic cuffs, Celtic!" Strike smiled until he looked at Whale's expression. "What? Not work?" Whale shook his head.

"Look!" Celtic turned over to a sitting position. "If you hurt a Diplomat before the tournament begins your Nation can face a serious penalty during Ship Wars and I'm a representative of Renora and Emberald so that's two penalties right there!" Celtic put up his hands to set up some sort of defensive barrier between him and the two Oligarchs. As he did, he saw his Net-Comm Watch containing Carl. He immediately began fiddling with it.

"We're not here to hurt you!" Whale reached into his pocket and pulled out a sack. "We're here to offer you a job."

Celtic stopped pressing buttons on his watch. "Huh?" Whale tossed him the bag and Celtic caught it with ease. He opened up the bag and pulled out the thin sheets of paper. "Karma…" He began counting it. "25?! This is too little!" regardless of his complaint, Celtic still put the sack into one of his pockets. "I don't do jobs for less than 50, you're 25 Karma short!"

Strike pushes himself forward. "Celtic please," He flinched back as Celtic glared at him.

"I'll listen to the Whale. You! You, I'm still pissed with…" Celtic turned to face Whale. Strike sighed but backed down.

Whale cleared his throat. "Listen, Celtic, we mean you no harm-"

He simply scoffed as he pointed to the magnetic cuffs.

"Right!" Whale swiped the remote from Strike's hands.

"Hey!" Strike protested as Whale pressed the release button. The cuffs undid themselves and Celtic reached to his ankles to massage them.

"Thanks…"

"Alright, look, the 25 Karma is an initial payment. We'll pay you the other 25 upon completion."

Celtic weighed the options in his mind. "What's with the petty cash? Couldn't the Oligarchy of Arkos pay up more?" He grinned mischievously.

Strike stepped forward. "The Oligarchy of Arkos can't pay for this transaction because it's off the books, alright? What we're about to ask of you might hurt all parties involved." Strike pleaded.

"All parties? Wh...What are you two planning?" Celtic looked suspiciously between the two.

Strike looked around as if he was about to say something that was highly confidential. "I can't give out too many details but," He looked around again. "We have a plan to _change_ the way the game is played."

Celtic froze up at the words. "Change…fuck..."

_**But if you were to meet this "enemy" you'd find maybe you're not all that different from them. In fact, you might even consider this "enemy" your friend? And if not? Then at least you've confirmed they are truly bad people!**_

Generic tried to get comfortable in the box compartment. It had been about 40 minutes since he heard footsteps begin to board his ship. The smuggling compartment wasn't really meant to smuggle people, but now it held one strategist. He shifted his body to the left but hit his face on the left wall of the compact space. "Oph!" He covered his mouth as he heard footsteps.

"What was that?" a voice said.

"Must be the pipes, this ship is old and busted. Thing must break down if you so much as breath on it the wrong way." Another voice responded with a laugh.

Generic felt slightly irritated. Sure, it was a hunk of junk, but it was _his_ government issued hunk of junk!

"Hey, I found some files! Now we can report back whose ship this is!" the first voice said.

Generic's eyes widened.

"Hey!" a familiar voice called out.

'_Whale! I'm saved!_'

"Are you snooping around an Arkos guarded information ship?!" Whale asked the two workers.

"N-no sir! We're supposed to check all personal ships to make sure they are on the registry and aren't carrying any contraband!" One voice responded. Generic could practically hear the two workers tense up. "This personal ship wasn't registered so-so we thought it to be an intruder ship!"

Another voice joined into the conversation, Strike's. "Whale, these men were just doing their job!" Strike scolds and then turns to the two workers. "I'm so sorry but yes, we still need to register this information ship under Arkos. It is full of sensitive information so If you two could please leave?"

Generic didn't hear anything else except sounds of agreement and marching away. After a pause or two the lid of the compartment opened up and Generic poked his head out of the smuggling spot. "Whale! Strike! Oh, I'm so glad you two showed up!" He turned his head away from the two and sneezed. "Ah…I've been holding that for like 40 minutes!"

"Well no need to worry anymore!" Whale spoke up first. "We got who we were looking for! Celtic?" Whale and Strike moved a bit to let Generic see the cloaked man enter the ship.

"Wow, what a hunk of junk!" Celtic still hadn't noticed him. "I mean, my Grandma's toaster is in better shape than this thing!" Strike clears his throat, and Celtic finally notices the three of them. "B-but it has a nice, cozy feel to it y'know?"

"We didn't pay you to criticize a personal vessel, now close that door so we can talk about what we need you to do!" Strike scolded him.

"Meemee meemee mee mee!" Celtic childishly mocked Strike and slammed the button to close the side door. Whale walked towards the cockpit.

"Mr. Crown! I've heard many things about you!" Generic offered his hand.

Celtic bent down and shook it. "All good things I hope." He smiled.

"…I've heard many things about you!" Generic repeated as he shook the hand again.

Celtic deadpanned. "Right…"

Whale came back holding a folder in his hands. "Alright Celtic, here's your job," He tossed the file to the hacker, much to Generic's dismay. "We need you to program our friend here into the system as a representative. We need him to be able to get in and out without issue so it needs to be a permanent file in the system. Got that?"

Celtic looked the file up and down. "Hmm…A Lancastrian, huh? I thought the High Council of Lancaster decided not to ever send any representatives to a Ship Contest?" He turned to face the young man in the smuggling compartment, only to find the strategist looking away. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

Generic looked at the wall. "Well…they haven't exactly changed their minds…"

Celtic laughed. "I guessed as much, or else I wouldn't be here to hack you in. I'm asking; Why are _you_ participating in a Ship Contest despite your Nation's wishes?"

Generic gulped nervously. Whale was about to step in but was stopped by Strike's arm. "I…I'm a man of logic." Generic started, slowly, as if choosing his words carefully. "I took an accelerated course of study the High Council was offering to train a Strategist for the War Branch. It was only until recently did I learn that Lancaster has vowed to never send out representatives for any Ship Contests, which are the only Wars we have nowadays. They just send foot soldiers with a simple battle plan and hope for the best…" He clenched his fists and stepped out of the hole.

"I was going to accept this," He shook his head and rose up. "But Whale and Strike here convinced me on something I was doubting for the longest time." He turned to face Celtic with a new look of resolve. "If a true Strategist would be on the field, adapting the fight as it goes along, Lancaster's chances might fare better! It's my duty as a Strategist to be there, for my Nation! The High Council gives up, thinking the Contests are a waste of resources and a losing fight…I don't think so. I think they are a necessity if we are ever to be accepted in the community on the day we become canon! I want to change their way of thinking!"

Celtic turns back to Whale and Strike and then back to Generic and sighs. "Alright, I get the gist of it…no need to get all motivational speech on me. I'll just send a mock-signal similar to the High Council's and unlock the Representative option. From there I can create a file for you, and we can just edit his flair to be whatever."

"F-flair?"

Celtic face palmed and turned to the Oligarchs. "I'm gonna need a little more than the promised amount too, what with how risky this job is. How does, 1 more Karma for every word he says to me, sound?" Celtic walks off with a smile and makes his way to the door.

"W-wait! What's a flair?!" Generic yelled after him .

Celtic yelled back from the outside. "5 Karma!"

Whale and Strike turned to the Strategist. "Whale! Tape tactics!" Strike tackled the strategist as Whale pulled a roll of tape out.

"Oph!"

_**That being said…If you weren't originally on the same side, then that means there is a very clear dividing difference between you. Just be careful not to prod at that difference and you should be fine! What's the worst that could happen? **_

Celtic peeked out of the corner and saw the registrars' booths set up and still accepting applications. The Hacker looked at the line and eventually made brief eye contact with the blue-haired Strategist, he also made eye contact and waved hello at him. Celtic face palmed.

The Strategist had changed out of his old, tattered clothes and was wearing a uniform lent to him by Blue Whale King. Instead of his dark green pants and cloak, he wore white pants and a yellow cape. Instead of a black shirt he wore a white uniform suit with black shoulder pads. His usually messy hair was combed a bit, though that was beginning to undo itself. He tugged at the suit's collar.

"So this guy has some master plan to help Arkos win Ship Wars?" Celtic turned back to his laptop connected to the building's security system through a mess of wires detached and reattached to an outlet on the side of the building. He opened up a program or two, and began working away at the system's security defense.

Strike sighed. "Sorta…Trust us, his plan actually seems doable. It will take a lot of certain things happening but it does seem like it might guarantee victory for Arkos." Strike looked at his Net-Comm watch. "Whale, how's everything on your end?"

Blue Whale King peered behind a large tree in the Gardens area. "Everything's fine so far, the Security Guards aren't the wiser of our plans!"

Celtic rolls his eyes. "Because we've yet to do anything and most of this is happening on a computer."

"Hey! Team ears only!" Strike turns away from him and whispers into his watch. "Good job Whale, keep me updated on any and all suspicious activit-Gah! Carl! What the hell?!" (° U °) b

Celtic laughed as he typed away on his keyboard. "Alright, I was able to make a mock signal resembling that of the High Council's, makes it a lot easier to do so with the fact they haven't upgraded their systems in like 4 years!" Celtic typed away. "Now I just need to disable their block and upload Generic's file."

"I can help the next person in line!" A worker waved Generic over with a smile. Generic smiled nervously and gulped. "Guys, are you done?" He said through his gritted teeth to his Net-Comm watch. He walked over, with the smile still on his face.

"Strike! Generic's being registered early!" Whale spoke into his watch.

"Tell him to stall! Celtic's uploading the file but it's taking longer than expected!" Strike shot back.

Whale looked around nervously, after seeing absolutely no other way he opened his mouth and hid behind the tree. "WOOoaaaooouuuu!" He cried out a mighty Whale call, that being the signal for Generic to stall. The signal was never meant to be used and was in fact, a joke at first but quickly dismissed by Celtic because he was, quote, "Just that good".

Generic recognized the signal and began thinking of ways he could stall. Starting with walking slowly up to the booth. After a minute he reached the booth.

"Name and Identification please!" The receptionist warmly asked.

"Of course!" Generic reached into the pocket in his borrowed pants and pulled out his ID, but it got stuck in the inside of the pocket. "What the?" he tugged at it but it stood stuck by the corner.

"Are you…okay, sir?" The registrar asked.

"Peachy!" Generic quickly spoke up and turned back to pulling at the ID card.

"Strike, he's stalling perfectly! He's a natural!" Whale spoke into his Net-Comm with a smile.

Strike peered out the corner to see Generic still struggling with the ID. "…uhm Whale, I believe he's being genuine…"

Celtic made a noise to acknowledge the two but typed away at his laptop. "…Whatever he's doing, tell him to keep it up, something seems to be fighting off my program! Carl," (° u °)7 "Can you get in there and set up a decoy signal to have our annoying friend over here follow it? I need to throw them off my trail for a bit so I'll wait." (° v °) b. The strange program disappeared and reappeared on Celtic's computer screen before disappearing once more.

Generic tugged at the ID. A security guard notices his struggle and approaches with a hand on their taser. With a renewed sense of survival, Generic pulls at the card and it launches up into the air a bit. He attempts to grab it in the air but his swipes are too slow and it falls to the ground. The security guard backs off, seeing that he's clearly not a threat.

"Hehe…I dropped my ID…" Generic looked at the registrar with a nervous smile and bent down to pick up the ID. On his way he accidentally bumped his head into the table causing him to fall back and wince at the pain.

"Celtic, how's the file going?!" Strike turned to the hacker.

"Hey, _you_ try invading a highly guarded security system invented by the woman who developed a machine able to track natural anomalies into different worlds and then tell me how fast that goes for you, Pilot boy!"

Strike huffed and turned back to his watch. "Whale, prepare a distraction if all else fails!"

"Already on it!" Whale pulled out a lighter and grabbed his cape. "C'mon Celtic…." He flicked the lighter on, held it up, and prepared to burn his cape in case Celtic needed more time.

Generic rose with the ID in hand. "So sorry about that…" He handed the ID and placed a hand on his forehead.

"N-no problem!" The man responded worriedly. "A-are you sure we don't need medics here? You still seem…disorientated…" Generic realized he was swaying slightly and tried hard to stand still. He smiled. The receptionist smiled too but less genuinely. "..Riiight…"He swiped the card through a device on his desk and a disrupting beeping sound was heard from the holo-screen. Generic froze up. The Security Guard glances Generic's way.

"Whale! Distraction time, go!" Strike yelled into his watch.

Whale brought the cape closer to the flame.

"Got it!" Celtic smiled as he pressed a key on his laptop with a dramatic flair

"Oops, had it upside down!" The receptionist laughed and then flipped the card over to swipe it again.

"Whale, wait!" Strike called out to his fellow Oligarch. He observed from the distance to see Whale putting the cape down. Since it did not seem on fire, he sighed in relief.

"Here you are Mr. User…nay…m?" The registrar looked at the file in confusion on how to pronounce the Strategist's name.

"Ah, just Generic works!" Generic finally unfroze from the earlier shock. "Yeah, my last name is kinda…odd…"

The receptionist nodded and handed over a sheet on a clipboard. "Please fill that out, here. It's your name, Net-Comm ID, and other stuff but we can add most of it from your profile or you can fill it out a later date! Just your position in this Ship Wars and where you hail from are most important!" The man nodded and awaited any questions Generic might have.

Generic nodded and inwardly sighed in relief that the plan worked and there were no complications whatsoever!

"AAAAHH!" A voice yells behind him. He turns to see Blue Whale King run around in circles with Celtic and Strike chasing after him.

Okay...one complication.

"Duck and roll!" Celtic calls out.

"No, stand still so we can take off the cape!" Strike counters.

The three of them continued chasing each other as Generic tried to finish his form and attempting to ignore the situation as best he could. The receptionist takes the completed form and looks it over. "Wait, Lancaster?" He looks from the sheet to the young man in front of him. "I thought Lancaster didn't want to fully participate in Ship Contests?" the man looks at the holo screen and now notices the affiliation tab to indeed say Lancaster. "And they're sending over a Strategist too, according to your flair."

Generic nervously rubs the back of his head. "Yeah…I'm kind of a _trial run_, if you will? A test to see if Lancaster wants to participate in future contests!" Generic explains.

The man smiles. "Well! I'll make sure to keep an eye on you and Lancaster this year! Who knows? Might even help my bracket predictions? Please make your way to customs to declare any and all contraband you may or may not hold. Thank you for your participation, have a _wonderful_ Ship War!" The receptionist points to the customs line.

"I'd hurry too, A small Bumblebee platoon already sent over their files and were pre-approved," A loud, humming buzzing was heard. "Aaand by the sound of that, they're here and ready to go through Customs!" he smiled.

Generic looked at the big, Yellow and Black ship land. As Generic ran in the direction of Customs to make it before the swarm, he noted that the ship was big and bulky, yet was flying by flapping two very thin wings in the middle of the Ship. _'What the? But according to all known laws of __aviation, there is no way that Bee ship should be able to fly? Its wings are far too small to get even a few feet off the ground!'_ Generic, distracted at the sight of the ship, bumped into something lumpy "Oof!"

The object he bumped into didn't have much mass but was still enough to stop him in his tracks. Generic watched as the tall person he bumped into disassimilates and collapses into separate bumps as different voices all shout. The group of objects make soft thuds all except for stilts and some sort of robotic endoskeleton.

Generic stares as the person he just accidentally pushed over now seems to be separated pieces on the floor. '_Oh my Gods, I killed someone!_'

_**Actually, a lot of things...**_

Whale, in a panicked haze, goes off in a random direction. That random direction being the way to the Community Garden.

"Oh fuck!" Strike picks up his speed.

"I'll kill the security cameras, just in case we burn this thing down…" Celtic began fiddling with his watch.

"Hey, while you're at it, mind turning on the sprinkler systems or something?!" Strike called back. Celtic nodded and did so. The sprinklers all at once popped up and took aim at the fiery Whale, and unleashed all 17 ounces of their fury.

Whale stood still and opened his arms as if to embrace the waters. The fire extinguished as Strike caught up with him.

"Whale! Are you alright!?" Strike circled around him, looking for any fires. Most of his cape was singed off but that was it. Because of Whale's constant movement the cape never touched his uniform and thus never touched him.

"I've been through worse.." Whale sighed, unhooked his cape, and began folding it up. "That was a close one!"

Celtic rolled his eyes as he finally arrived. "Are you kidding me?" He got the attention of Strike and Whale. "I'm to believe you two and your kid are gonna bring change upon this sub?!" Celtic snapped. He pointed to Strike. "You have a Pilot who's too afraid to act." He moves his finger over to Whale. "A buffoon who's just begging to be shot down." He goes to point to Generic but he's nowhere to be found. "And a no show from a Nation that doesn't even care enough to fight!"

Strike's fist clenched. "Why you!-" he was stopped by Whale's arm.

Blue Whale King stepped up, his usual happy aura was gone. His eyes had determination glossed all over. "I would appreciate it if you stopped saying such rude things about my companions." His voice was serious, missing his usual happy and prideful tone. "Strike did what was necessary to carry Arkos to the end and rebuild it during Ship Survivor, even if he hesitated and made a few mistakes, he tried his best." Strike lowered his fist. "And Generic just wants what we all want, to help our Nation! Sure, he's slightly inexperienced in actual combat but I've experienced firsthand what his strategies are capable of."

Celtic scowls.

"And I might act silly sometimes but when it comes to my Nation, _MY_ people, I am never more serious. I am willing to lay down my life if the need be." Whale stood proudly while glaring Celtic down.

Celtic sighed. "Fine. Let's go find the kid so I can get paid as soon as possible and you two can hurry up and return to being horrible babysitters." Celtic walked off. His cloak having a mysterious singe mark on it.

Strike passed Whale as he stood in place. "Whale...thanks…"

Whale just nodded. "Of course, I know you would do the same for your friends." Whale smiled.

Strike smirked. "Right, but you do know that no one ever dies in Ship Wars? It says so in all the pamphlets."

Whale froze. "O-of course! I-I just meant that I would, lay down my life...metaphorically! Yes! Metaphorically, I'd lay down my life this Ship Wars!" Whale laughed nervously as Strike pats him on the shoulder.

"Alright buddy, but you can still be hurt pretty badly so try not to go too crazy. For my sake, at least?" Strike passed Whale and soon, Whale followed.

Back with Generic as the long, grey trench coat's bumps begin moving around. Generic blew a sigh of relief on the fact he may not have killed someone.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't see where I was going and then the Bee ship and then boomph and the bamph! I'm sooo sorry!" The trench coat flattens out as small bodies exit out of the tarp like object. "What the?" Generic is shocked as from the coat emerges various…rodents…what? No, I know what the script says…You want me to believe that several small critters bypassed all security protocol by just Muppet-manning it?...No, I guess if a Whale-humanoid leader can exist and a blue-blob turns into a human…Fine!...you know, nearly no one will understand the reason for this little skit in an already long chapter!

"A Porcupine?" Generic looked at the critters as they exited and named them, as if it were a test. "A Squirrel? A Mouse? A Beaver? A Chipmunk?" As he finished naming all the animals his collar was snatched by the Porcupine atop the Beaver's shoulders and he was brought down to their level.

"Hey! Watch where you're going! You could've crushed some of the smaller ones of us!" The porcupine glared him down.

"I-I'm s-sorry!" Generic tried to steer clear of the mammal's quills. "I-it was an accident!" He was released.

The mammal's features softened "Well, if it wasn't on purpose, I suppose there's no harm." Generic sighed in relief. "Just watch where you're going next time, kid! If not for you," He pointed to the Field Mouse who was trying to upright the stilts with the aid of the Chipmunk and the Squirrel. "Then at least for the little ones."

Generic felt embarrassed, and guilty. "I-I'm sorry…" He trailed off. He heard marching behind him. He turned around, and saw dozens of armored units all with insect like helmets covering their faces and with a completely slated covering over their mouth area. Generic only thought of one word. _Hive_.

He felt something begin weighing his shoulder down. He turned and got poked in the cheek lightly by a quill, and stopped as he noticed the de facto leader of the various rodents atop his shoulder.

"So brave…" The Porcupine said despondently.

"Brave?!" Generic turned, forgetting the quills. "Ow! They're not brave! They're one of the Big Four! To be brave you need to be afraid of something! What can you possibly be afraid of when your power is that big?" he naively said.

The porcupine tsk-ed. "Listen kid, just because they don't look afraid, doesn't mean they aren't afraid. Look over there…" The mammal points a little ways off from the Bee-line. A group of representatives, whispering. "I've seen this before, because a Ship gets too close to the sun, it gets burned by everyone else." He shakes his head. "Because of something out of their control that brings them joy and happiness, they are now going to be targeted…shame too, I think Bumblebee isn't half-bad."

Generic looks at the Bees, all of them have their helmets forward, all organized and robotic even. Save for the one in the front who's helmet is off and giving marching orders to the Bees. He notices the leader's eyes go to the left to glance quickly at the group of representatives whispering. She frowns and then returns to directing the Bees to Customs. After the Bees have all formed a line and begun placing their items in bins she puts the helmet back on, taking care her purple hair is inside all the way.

Whale looked around. "Where is he?!" He looked to customs only to find a line of Bee soldiers all blocking his view of the other side. "Oh no, the BEES!"

Celtic walked up with an annoyed look on his face. "Will you chill out beluga boy?"

"Beluga?!"

"The kid should be fine, as long as he doesn't insult them or look in their general direction, he'll come back to you mostly unstung!" Celtic laughed.

The Beaver secured the legs back on, and soon ushered the other smaller mammals up the robotic disguise. The porcupine hopped off of Generic's shoulder.

"Kid, let me let you in on some secret knowledge of mine; There are no such things as "Enemies" in a Ship War." He began walking towards the reconstructed disguise. "There's just…just…uh…"

"Just…friends we haven't made yet?" Generic asks.

"Well I didn't say that..." The porcupine was helped to the top of the mammal tower and reached a platform.

"People we don't understand?"

"I didn't say that either." He sits in a small chair set up in the top. "Just people we haven't learned to stand yet!" He grabs the controls and makes the robots arms wave goodbye. As he's walking away, Generic notices something.

"Your hat!" He rushed to pick up the collective's fedora they were using to top off their disguise and placed it on their "head", which was just the collar of the coat. "Thank you, friend." A small high-pitched voice came from deep in the coat. The Bee-Line had cleared by now and the various rodents had made their way to customs.

"Generic!" He turned around to see Whale running towards him, soaking wet, cape missing. "We thought we lost you! I caught on fire!"

"I-I saw!" Generic laughed.

Celtic and Strike walked up, behind Whale. There was a slight burn mark on Celtic's cloak. "Look, there he is, he made it through all right! My job's completed, can I get my Karma now?!" Celtic held his hand out. Generic began talking with Whale.

Strike sighed, reached into his suit's side pocket and pulled out the second bag. "Here, 30 Karma, it covers your stupid additional fee." Strike tosses it to Celtic who catches it with ease. "Hm! Well, Ladies and Gentlewhale, it's been fun but I'm afraid babysitting doesn't necessarily fall into my area of expertise."

"Babysitting?!" Generic stops talking to Whale long enough to hear that.

"That's one more!" Celtic smiles as he takes the extra Karma from Strike's hand. "I don't feel that I have to mention that the Nation of Renora will of course support our sister ship Arkos," his smile goes away and he lowers his voice so only Strike can hear. "Even if they don't always have our back."

Strike's eye twitches. "What's your deal, Celtic?! Arkos didn't do anything to Renora!"

"Heh, that's right, you didn't do anything _to_ Renora but you certainly didn't do anything _for _Renora either. You just sat there and watched as White Rose and Pollination planned our destruction. You waited for it all to pass over so Arkos didn't have to get caught in the cross fire, even if your force was what we needed to take White Rose down once and for all! But no, you ignored my pleas for help, covered your ears, and waited for it all to be over with! And when it did, Renora suffered." Celtic turned around, venom dripping in his words. "I hope you enjoyed being White Rose's lap puppy, it won't last long. Not if you're teaming up with a Lancastrian of all people." He began walking off.

Strike watched Celtic walk off. "Lap Puppy…" How he hated that term. People thought the only reason Arkos was this supported was because it doesn't interfere with any of their Ships. This was simply not true! It couldn't be! Strike fought hard to restore Arkos to its former glory after…the fall. All of that hard work couldn't just be because people didn't want one God to mess with their Ship's chances! "That's just bitter words from a bitter man…" Strike turned back to his friends. "C'mon Generic, let's get you fully set up and arrange a conference room for everyone to meet in."

Strike walked past Blue Whale King and Generic. "And…try not to lose sight of us. For Whale's sake. Don't you know he nearly had a heart attack.?"

Whale laughed. "It was 70% because of the fire on my tail." He began walking off.

Generic's head turned. "He has a tail?!"

_**So throw all reasoning to the wind! Go out and make friends! **_

The door opened as two more Whale-humanoid people walked into the conference room. "Is that everybody?" Generic asked as he stood behind a podium.

"Not everybody!" A confident man walked in with another man behind him.

"Jannis…" Generic recognized the Champion of White Rose as soon as he walked through the door. "and Mr. McDouggal." He also recognized the Ambassador of Milk and Cereal, hesitantly entering the room behind Jannis. There was a long and awkward silence before Generic spoke up. "Good to see you've accepted our invitation!" Generic smiled.

Jannis reciprocated the smile. "Of course! This sounds like an interesting opportunity!"

McDouggal takes a seat at the conference table. "What can I say?" he fiddles with something in his pocket. "It was a hard offer to pass up." He grimaces.

"Well, now that everyone is here! We can begin the meeting! Ladies and Gentlewhales, it is my pleasure to introduce Blue Whale King, the Whale who, let's face it, without him this group wouldn't even exist!" Generic joked, causing a laugh from a few members of the table.

Whale stepped up to the Podium with a smile. "Welcome friends, allies, former enemies, to the first meeting of our new Alliance! The Arc Appreciation Alliance!" Whale proudly states as the screen behind him turns on to a banner.

"Let's make history." Strike smiles confidently and leans back in his chair.

_**Who knows what this new friendship might bring?**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**I've been talking to you all for so long with my narrating practices, but I've forgotten to introduce myself! How rude of me, and allow me to correct that mistake!**_

A pair of feet run as fast as they can around the corner.

_**I am known by many names,**_

The man turns another corner and picks up his already fast pace.

_**Peacekeeper Extraordinaire!**_

The man swiped his ID card by the security system attached to the door. "RETINA SCAN REQUIRED" a robotic voice spoke. The man whined worriedly and brought his eye down to the camera's level.

_**The leading expert on RWBY Shipology! **_

"ACCEPTED" The voice said and unlocked the door. He grabbed the handle.

_**Princess Canada! I've been called a legend on one or two occasions as well, but most tend to call me-**_

"GRAND HOSTESS MELANIE!" the man rushed in, out of breath with his glasses nearly off his face.

The caped woman who stood in the middle of the large room sighed. "Yes, Reggie?" she turned to face the breathless man. "I was kind of the middle of something?" She moved the papers in her desk around, mostly to hide the papers but also to seem busier than stating she was practicing her Hosting abilities by narrating random events in her head with random quotes.

The man, still bent over and out of breath, held up his finger as if to signify her to wait a bit.

'_The nerve-'_

"Grand Hostess! There's a complication in the Anomaly Portal Connection Machine!" He finally spoke up.

Melanie's eyes widened. "Next time, lead with that!" She detached her cape from her uniform, grabbed a tool from her desk, and began speed walking past the man and through the door.

"W-wait up!" Reggie reached into his pocket, pulled out an inhaler, and used it before running after Melanie. After catching up with the hostess he slowed his pace a bit, still trailing a respectful distance behind his boss.

"Alright, I can't go in blind." She looks back to him. "Reggie, tell me all you know about the issue." She pulls out a Net-Comm pad and pulls up a schematics diagram. She tosses the pad behind her without looking and Reggie fumbles to catch it. "What area is experiencing issues? The Power Core? The Locator? The Shortcut Maker? The HP Saver? The Viewer?"

"Uh…yes!"

"The Viewer?"

"Well, yes, a-and also a few more…"

Melanie stopped in her tracks. She turned to face Reggie. "A few more…how many more?"

Reggie nervously turns the pad over to reveal all the sectors highlighted. "All of the above?" He nervously says.

Melanie turns around and breaks into a full sprint. "FuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckFUCK!" she turns a few corners and makes her way to the Machine Room. She bursts through the door to find the area in chaos and disarray.

Engineers are rushing around the underground room with fear and determination, rushing off to fix up whatever was fixable with their limited knowledge of the problem. The programmers were tumbling over themselves as they worked on the computers to maintain the mainframe from further collapse. In the middle stood a towering machine of cogs and gears and metallic pieces, the Anomaly Portal Connection Machine. The large tower-like machine was making odd noises and creaking sounds and hissing steam every once in a while.

"PHYNX!" Melanie called out to a lady typing away furiously at a near computer. "Where's the issue?!"

The red-haired woman, Phynx, looked from the computer to Melanie. "We received 5 different foreign signals at around the same time all trying to enter the mainframe, it must've overloaded our systems and caused a malfunction somewhere in the machine. We were able to separate the user logs from the machine's mainframe so as to prevent any further attacks and we're working to fix whatever issues come up!" She goes back to typing.

Melanie froze. "So…this was intentional?!"

Phynx stopped typing as she hit enter and pulled up another program. She shook her head. "We can't eliminate the possibility. Either way, we need to fix this and soon or else not only will the machine break but it might also unleash portals throughout the Sub to Gods know where!"

"Well, which part of the machine stopped working? If we fix the first problem, we can follow the trail of destruction and fix it from there." Melanie looked up at the machine as a hiss escaped the tower.

"That's the thing! There were only 10 people who were in here when the APCM went crazy! 7 are inside the machine working to hold back the damages and the other three left to get help! I was called off my break just now, I don't know which part was damaged first!"

Melanie reached into her pocket and pulled out the tool she got off her desk earlier. The tool was simply called "The Key", it was powered by Bragg and can take practically any form so long as the user knows how it works. She stared at the small, rod-like object she held in her palm and felt an echo in the back of her mind '_No one ever dies…_' She clutched the Key. "It's decided then, I'm going in!" She turned but was stopped by Phynx's hand on her shoulder.

"Grand Hostess! You can't go in there! The APCM is out of control, its movements are irrational, unpredictable! It's far too dangerous and we can't afford to lose you!" Phynx pleaded.

Melanie looked from Phynx to the machine. "My people are in that machine! I can't leave them to a fate like this, not If I can stop it!" she flipped the switch on the Key and the tip lit up a bright red, ready to use. Melanie moved from her friend's grasp and made her way to the entrance of the machine.

She grabbed the handle only to instinctively pull back from the searing pain. "Fuck!" she shook the pain away and eyed the door up and down before finally kicking it in, effectively breaking the door hinges off.

The normally blue shaded inside of the machine was an alarming red sending off major danger flags all throughout Melanie's mind, with a shake of her head she ignored it and made her way to the stairs leading to the first floor, The Locator.

She reached the top of the stairs to find two engineers fixing the gears- who were going in opposite directions and at a much faster pace-, and one programmer stretching himself thin by taking care of all three major terminal computers.

One of the engineers was the first to notice her. "G-Grand Hostess!" a burst of steam shot out of a crack as the engineer barely moved his head to the left to avoid it. "Gah! Y-you can't be here! It's-"

"-too dangerous, I've been told that already! Where's the fire?!" She pointed the Key to the steaming crack and shot a beam at it. The beam made impact with the surface and immediately it became a solid red crystal covering that stopped the steam.

The engineer reached into the tool box strapped onto his belt, pulled out a roll of tape, and rapidly began taping the area. "The fire is on the third floor, The HP Saver!" he called out and moved on to another pipe that seemed ready to burst. Melanie nodded and rushed up the stairs. She passed the second floor and stopped as she saw 2 programmers working furiously on the computers.

They both notice the new presence. "Grand Hostess Melanie?! W-"

"Can it!" She rushes to the stairs and begins making her way to the third floor. About midway up the stairs she notices a rise in temperature and an increase in a dark fog. "Gods!" she picked up the pace and finally reached the third floor.

When she reached the floor, she saw a huge fire erupting from one of the computer terminals. On the floor, passed out, were two of her engineers. "Fuck!" Melanie reached into her pocket and pulled out a handkerchief to stop the smoke from being an immediate issue. She hurried to the two workers. "Guys! Wake up!" she tried to shake the engineers awake but both were knocked out. "Damn it!"

The fire seemed to keep growing. Melanie ran back to the stairs and pulled out the Key to turn it into a grappling hook like tool. She swung it around her head and threw it at one of the unconscious engineers, it latched onto his belt as she pulled with all her strength until the engineer was at the stairs, she pulled him down a few more before one of the programmers helped take him down the rest of the way.

After getting him down she goes for the remaining engineer. She peeks up from the staircase to look at the scene above. The fire was growing still and nearing the unconscious worker as a hissing sound began coming from the other side of the room. Melanie didn't even think twice about it as she ran towards the worker.

The fire exploded. In a split-second, Melanie pointed the Key at the fire and moved her arm in an arc to form a hollow dome that fell on her and the unconscious worker as the flames approached. The dome fell with a loud thunk and through its crystalized transparency Melanie could see the flames wash over the dome. Immediately, the heat was unbearable and Melanie could hardly breath.

"Way…out…!" She located which way the fire was coming from and kicked the opposite side of the dome. She aimed the key through the opening and fired a grappling hook towards the staircase. After a definitive clunk, Melanie imagined the Key pulling the rope back causing the dome, her, and the engineer to begin moving rapidly in one direction. The dome hit the stairs and flipped. In the air Melanie reached out and shielded the engineer using her body. They landed at the bottom with the dome helping break some of Melanie's fall and Melanie's body breaking all of the engineers fall.

"Grand Hostess!" the worried programmer from before approached and moved the unconscious worker off of her. Melanie groaned and sat up. "Grand Hostess! You shouldn't-!" She simply shook her head and made her way up the stairs, leaving behind the cloth she was using to block the fumes from the fire. Melanie silently looked at the gigantic fire and pointed at it with the Key. A crystalizing beam shot at wisp of flame and in its place a splotch of shiny red crystal replaced it. The fire died down a bit. Another shot at a table that had found a new purpose as kindling, the table was soon encased in crystal. More of the fire quelled.

Melanie started firing at all possible directions with blind rage and extinguished more and more of the fire until the whole room was covered in a coating of bright red crystal.

The programmer reached the top of the stairs to see the room entirely covered with a shiny Bragg coating. A gasp escaped her lips. "Wow…"

Melanie turned to the programmer. "That should stop it for now, I'm cutting off this area until we can get an entire team back here to repair as much as we can." The Hostess sighed in relief. "Thankfully we were lucky enough to stop the source and we can begin following the problems from here."

The first engineer Melanie had saved limped his way up the stairs. "The fire…happened after the malfunction…" He coughed.

"What?!" Melanie turned to the engineer.

"Yeah…me and Ifso went to investigate the weird noise upstairs but we saw a person. Before we could do anything…guh.." he coughed violently. "The person threw a bomb or something at one of the terminals and it exploded!"

Melanie growled. Someone was doing this on purpose! Someone was trying to mess with HER machine! Trying to put HER workers in danger! She bolted to the staircase across the room.

She passed the fourth floor, The Shortcut Maker, to find it in equal disarray as any other floor. She reached the staircase and then heard a noise from above her. A series of thumps in what can only be described as footsteps.

Melanie picked up the pace to the last floor.

She reached the final floor, The Power Core, and looked around the room. The room looked normal with no sign of anyone being up here...every computer terminal was working, every gear was turning in the right direction and at the right speed, and at the center of it all stood the gigantic, red, floating Bragg crystal that powered the whole machine.

In any situation, this would be fine. Right now, in this instance, this normal room was the most dangerous thing in all the machine. She pulled out her Net-Comm pad and scanned the entire room. A 3D model of the Bragg Crystal and the room was shown on the pad. A blip came up.

Melanie's eyes widened and she ran around to the back of the crystal to find something purple stabbed into the crystal. "Holy F-"

_**If I may cut in at this time. **_

_**In case it wasn't glaringly obvious, I am Melanie Antiqua, the Ship Wars Lady. I am in charge of this whole shebang!**_

…_**Er, right. This is why we practice, people!**_

_**Anyway, every year, Nations send in their Representatives, and Ambassadors, and Champions, and yada yada yada! **_

_**And I, am in charge of making sure there is control to the War. Almost Oxymoronic, isn't it? A controlled War. **_

_**It sounds so silly and impossible but this is something I do yearly. I have mostly one rule for keeping every year's War safe and fun for everybody:**_

_**No one ever dies in Ship Wars. **_

A group of three people all sit anxiously in a conference room around a round table. All were quiet as no one wanted to be the first to say anything about the situation. Just then the Grand Hostess burst through the door holding a high-tech box. "I bet you're all wondering why I called you in today!"

Silence. And then a hand was raised. "Because of the APCM malfunction earlier today?" a man with a lab coat and frizzled grey hair spoke.

"I have to apologize again Miss Antiqua," a voice spoke up from a strict looking woman in uniform. "As head of security I should've noticed any suspicious activity." She clenched her fist.

Melanie sighed. "It's fine, Orin. From the security footage, there was possibly only a miniscule second where an infiltrator might've had even a chance to break into the machine!" she pulled up the box so it rested atop of the conference table. "Which brings me to why I really brought you all here today." She pushed the button on top of the box and soon it emitted strange whirring and clicking noises until it unfurled to reveal a crystal.

The man in the lab coat spoke up. "Melanie! What the hell is that?!" he looked at the crystal presented in the high-tech box.

The crystal looked like a common Braggtonium crystal, save for the color. Where as Bragg is a bright Red, this crystal had a purple-ish hue to it. An immediate sense of dread washed over the room.

"I extracted this crystal from the Power Core's Bragg." Melanie pulled out her Net-Comm pad and swiped up to send a holographic image up so that everyone can see. The image showed the purple crystal that was on display at the table, only it was jammed into the surface of a much larger red crystal. Presumably the Power Core.

"From Ifso and Mack's testimony we can figure out a story. Person enters the machine, makes their way to the top undetected and so as to not set off the Crystal's security alarm, sends out five different signals into our Main Users System. From there, they break off some of the Power Core and jam this-" she points to the crystal. "into it when the system is recalibrating. On their way to escape they nearly get caught by Ifso Really and Mack Intosh, to which they cause an electrical fire on the HP Saver's terminal computer and escape in all the commotion."

A silence, the HP Saver being damaged was not a good thing.

Finally, someone broke the silence. "Question is…what is that?" The man in the lab coat reached out to touch it but his hand was slapped away by Melanie. "Ow!"

"Until we know what this thing is, no touching it!" Melanie pulled out a small Bragg crystal. "But so far, we do know one thing about this." She tosses the Bragg at the purple crystal and it lands on top of one of its flat surfaces.

Upon contact the Bragg begins to lose its shine and slowly it turns into a shade of purple similar to the crystal it was touching.

The whole room stares in shock.

"…" Melanie swipes up on the pad once more to show a photo of the Power Core's crystal without the foreign element jammed in. Around the crack where the purple crystal was, the Core crystal was turning duller. The whole thing still shone, yet the spot where the crystal was placed in was starting to dull out. "Thankfully, it appears there's a straight correlation of affects over time depending on crystal mass."

Orin stood from her chair. "We have to report this to the Mod Council immediately!"

"At ease, Orin." Melanie spoke calmly and stayed silent for a moment to think before she spoke. "I say we don't."

"What?! B-But this is serious! Lives could be at danger! We-"

"-would have the Mods breathing down our necks." Melanie interrupted as she took a seat. Orin also sat down. "The Mods would want to run an in-depth investigation and that'd hold off Ship Wars for who knows how long." She reached out and pressed a button on the box to reseal it. "Tensions have been running high for a while after Volume 6 and things might get even more violent during Ship Survivor if these Nations don't blow off steam. These people are eager to fight, if we hold that off for even one more day, we'd be putting this whole sub in danger…but this one being a destruction from the inside..."

Melanie sighed as she seemed to recall a rather annoying event that happened recently. "A Nation destroyed by its enemies can always be rebuilt," She looked from the crystal to her companions with a deathly glare, "but one destroyed from the inside, can _never_ recover."

Orin stayed silent. "This still feels wrong, whoever did this is still out there!"

"And if the Mods come out and investigate that person might retreat into whatever rathole they're hiding in and we lose them. Forever possibly. Or worse, they leave and come back one day knowing what they know and possibly with reinforcements. Or even worse, the Mods shut us down."

A silence falls once again over the conference room. "I'm guessing since no one else is arguing with me, we all agree to keep shut about this."

"…" a large, sturdy man cleared his throat as he was silent since the beginning. "I-"

"So what happens to the faketonium?" Orin interrupts

The man in the lab coat stands up and speaks. "Let's leave the naming to the professionals, please." He picks up the box. "As for the crystal, I believe it'd be most beneficial to bring this to the research and development department, with me. We need to analyze this top to bottom and figure out what to name it." he makes his way to the door.

"Torv! You better not spend all day naming that stupid crystal!" Melanie warns as the man exits the room.

"I'll try!~" He waves as he exits the door.

Melanie sighed as she reclined on her chair.

Orin stood silent for a second. "So…what do we do now?"

"Business as usual, I'm afraid." Melanie stands up. "Seth," The large man with an eyepatch stands at attention. "inform some of the guests that we will begin the write-in registration soon. From there, the news will spread fast."

The silent man nods and exits the room. "Orin." The woman stands. "I'll need you to increase security around the entrance and any exits we may have. I also want at least ten security personnel in the APCM room at all times."

Orin nods.

"Whatever attacked us just now, is something that isn't supposed to be here, something that doesn't belong. Whatever that is, it'll reveal itself to us pretty soon." Melanie stands up. "And when it does, we'll eradicate it."

_**If I can be 100% honest here, the tales people tell about me are mostly exaggerated. For instance; I didn't punch two Inter-Dimensional Dartvoles. I didn't survive two years in an Anomaly Portal with little to no resources and escape with the Power Core Bragg. I also didn't build and program a flying suit of armor powered by Bragg! Don't know where that one came from…**_

_**All these tales hold some truth -except that last one- though with so many iterations people tell about it, the details begin to blur. Do I correct these people? No!**_

_**They've come to respect me because of these tall tales and by correlation, the contest. By honoring the contest this ensures peace for the main sub and other similar subs. If people think me a legend, that's just an added bonus!**_

_**We're nearing the conclusion of our first arc and with that I feel I should reiterate my main rule that I try to maintain for this Contest:**_

_**No one ever dies in Ship Wars,**_

A silhouette walks through a dark room. This…figure, holds no defined shape and shifts constantly, making it even harder to define its shape. A laugh escapes it with a growl.

The shape begins to constrict and compress taking form of a cloaked figure.

_**No matter how much they deserve it.**_


	6. Chapter 6

"Alright! Today's AAA meeting is now in session!" A man in a white uniform stood on the stage set up in the AAA's personal conference room. The room was large, having a main conference area with a wide table to seat all the members, one stage area equipped with a Net-Comm projector to show data and the like, and one bathroom.

The man, Sergeant Rade Blunner, was a White Knight shipper and co-founder of the New and Old AAA. A menacing scar ran diagonally from his left temple across his face to his chin. How he got it, he refuses to say, not even to his second in command, Slip Snap.

Slip Snap was the first sat on the right, his smile apparent on his face. These meetings were never quite his style as he was a "Warrior", but he could pretend to like the strategy meet-ups and nod his head along every once in a while. In combat is where he truly flourished! A force of uncontrollable chaos, I believe is how Rade once described him. He was toying around with his specialized bat on the table top.

To his right sat Venom Ahab. A quiet man but also a fearsome fighter with one hell of an aim. Officially, he is counted as a foot-soldier of Lancaster. Which is fine because he's damn-good at fighting. He looks at Rade on stage with his eyes hidden behind a pair of dark shades. Venom reached under the table and pulled out a flask before taking a large swig of it. His own pre and post meeting ritual.

Skipping over the empty seat to Venom's right, sat Torrasque, a Tactician of the Legion. His attire was a simple white uniform with an emblem of White Knight, the Legion's upper-management standard uniform. He flipped through several pages before finding an empty page to begin new notes.

On the other side of the table, starting from the top, was Strike. Oligarch and Pilot of Arkos, he almost single-handedly restored all of Arkos' former power during Ship Survivor. At the moment, he was recovering from one of the hardest hitting hangovers to ever come upon him and with that came some memory loss of the night before. A text on his Net-pad caught his attention because of the loud notification sound and the startling message.

To his left was Blue Whale King, the other co-founder of the New AAA and the reason for the first. The Aquatic Mammalian King wore one of his best uniforms with his most elegant royal purple cape. He was the definite brawn to the Arkos Starfleet. His warring ways and rather influential charms made him essential to the AAA's plan for victory.

To Whale's left were Cayde and Vaniellis, code named Sulfur and Cyan, two other Whale-Humanoids. The two were sort of meant to be Whale's helpers but overtime the three have come to respect each other greatly. Wearing similar outfits to Whale's, sans the cape, the two looked toward the man on stage.

On the further end of the table sat McDouggal. The only Milk and Cereal representative there. He sat in his chair with a tired look on his face. He looked at all the men around him with a sense of uneasiness. Why was he here? As far as he knew, there was no need for Milk and Cereal to be there except to honor the old AAA and he didn't even want to be a part of it back then! This was all some big mistake that he just couldn't seem to get out of.

Rade cleared his throat. "We've only got a small amount of time before the Starting Ceremony begins, so we'll just run over this week's most important points! Now then, Generic, read back yesterday's minutes and we can begin the meeting properly!" Rade waited for a while, not hearing anything. "What the?" he turned around to find that the young strategist was nowhere to be found. "Where in the hells is Generic?!" he turned back to the group.

Torrasque raised his hand. "Well…Generic's been gone for the past three days."

Rade looked surprised. "What? Quit messing with me Torrasque, I heard him read back the minutes to Wednesday's meeting just yesterday!" now he looked slightly peeved.

Now Blue Whale King spoke up. "Well that's because we've been using Vaniellis to do his Generic impression for the past three days." He gestured to the Whale next to him. "Though after our incursion to the Karaoke Bar yesterday, Cyan's lost his voice." To prove his point, Cyan opened his mouth and a raspy breath was forced out. "See?"

Rade's eye twitched and he face palmed. "You mean to tell me that Generic's been absent for the past three meetings?!"

Everyone looked at each other around the table and then shrugged.

The man sighed. "Whale, mind going out to look for Generic? The Grand Hostess is announcing the results of the write-in round today and it would look really weak to not have all members of the AAA there."

Whale looked annoyed. "What?! Why do I have to do it? Why can't Slip do it?"

At the mention of his name Slip Snap's head looked up from his bat. "I'd love to go!" A smile formed on his face.

Rade shook his head. "No. We're not risking…." He looked to Slip's clueless face. "…losing another valued member looking for Generic." Slip Snap nodded and returned to polishing his bat. Rade let out a breath of relief, dodging a pretty loose bullet with that one.

"Then why am I going?! Surely, the co-founder should also go and show this alliance's strength!" Whale stood up. McDouggal rolled his eyes, this had become a natural incident in these "meetings" from what he observed. Rade would take charge and attempt to play out leader and challenge Whale's authority accidentally, this would resort to these two bickering until-

"Whale, you have to go because it was your idea to bring him." Strike coolly said without looking up from his device. "Not to mention out of all of us, you know him the best and it would take you less time than anyone of us going to look for him."

Until Strike comes by and shuts one, the other, or both up. It was interesting that neither of them had caught on to this pattern, or maybe they had but ignored it so they can keep their delusions of leadership. McDouggal found this cycle almost comedic, _almost_. But even he had to admit that these things can get annoying.

Whale looked around as everyone adverted their eyes and sighed. "Fine! But I'm only checking his room and if he's not there I'm going to the Starting Ceremony!"

Venom raised his hand. "Actually, he's not in his room, he went to the Feed Archive on Monday and hasn't been back to the room since." Venom pointed out.

"Great, that's like 20 floors down…" Whale growled and made his way to the door. "Cyan, Sulfur, take notes and relay them to me when I get back!"

Cyan simply pointed at his open mouth.

Whale face-palmed. "Fine! Cyan, take notes and Sulfur, read them back to me when I get back!" Whale delegated as he closed the door behind him.

* * *

_Two Days before the AAA's Karaoke Night…_

_Blue Whale King was excited. His good friend, Strike, walked alongside him as they made their way to the "Docks". _

_The Docks was where armies arrived en masse to be stationed as Minute-Troops. Thousands upon thousands of soldiers all bunked there in small, cramped quarters called the Barracks. Also in the Docks were the ships and aircraft soldiers would be deployed in. The Minute-Troops were always the first to enter the Anomaly Portals and begin the combat until reinforcements could arrive…or not. Every Nation sends in Minute-Troops as well as a select few of Representatives who can fight, to be prepared at a moment's notice for combat. _

_Today was a special day for Whale as the Arkosian troops were to arrive today. He loved interacting and getting to know the fearless soldiers he was to lead into battle before the fighting even began. It showed a sense of camaraderie in his troops and made people want to work for him as opposed to his soldiers feeling they __have__ to work for him._

"_Are you as excited as I am Strike?!" Whale pumped his fist in the air. _

"_Hm? Oh yeah. I hear that this year has quite a number of promising pilots. I just wonder if they can operate a mech, leading that division singlehandedly has been…irksome, to say the least." Strike typed out a message on his Net-pad. _

"_It will feel so good to get away from all the meetings!" Whale stretched as the door to the Docks came into view._

_It had been about two days since their arrival and while this new alliance they've made with other ships was rocky, it still looked promising. _

_This plan was presented to them by Generic way back in FNKI after the Whale War ended, he presented them the scenario of a coalition of Ships and factions united to fight multiple enemies, similar to when the smaller ships had teamed up to fight Whale not that long ago. The plan was…simple to say the least, a system of Quid Pro Quo on a much larger scale than Arkos was used to. And yet oddly, this plan sounded very familiar to Strike. Like he's heard this plan before, but his mind had blocked that memory out. _

_He didn't mind it much, after all, the plan had more layers than originally presented and if things played out correctly then maybe Arkos could land on top with a victory dedicated to the alliance._

_Whale reached for the doors to Docks Area-T only for them to open before he could touch the handle. The doors opened to reveal a man in a white uniform with blazing red highlights. Inferno._

"_Ah! Mr. Blue Whale! So nice to finally meet you!" The man crossed off something from a clipboard and began walking forward causing the two Oligarchs to walk backwards a bit. _

_Strike clenched his fists. "Inferno, do you need anything or..?" Strike scowled. _

"_Just needed to cross another event off my list! And while I'm here, might I ask if the powerful Oligarchy of Arkos would be interested in becoming one of Pollination's satellite ships?" Inferno flashed his brightest smile. _

"_I'm afraid that won't be happening any time soon, Inferno." Whale coldly said and pushed past the man and into The Docks area. _

_Strike walked up to Inferno with an apologetic look. "I'm sorry about my friend's demeanor Inferno, what he meant to say is, thank you for the offer but we already have some previous arrangements made and it really would contradict our new friends by teaming up with you."_

"_Ah yes, the AAA." Inferno smiled knowingly much to Strike's shock. "So sorry that our interests don't align this time," he walked past the stunned man. "maybe next year, Strike." He turned his head to face Strike. "Until later, puppy." Inferno grinned deviously as he turned the corner._

_How?! The AAA hadn't even been declared yet to the public and the whole operation was under lock and key and on a need to know basis. How the hell did Inferno find out?!_

_One name crossed his mind. "Celtic!" Strike growled and chased after Inferno. He turned the corner to find the man gone. No doors in sight until the end of the hallway and even then! The distance would be too long for him to escape and not to mention the possibility of not even making a noise to open the door. A hand grabbed his shoulder and he immediately turned around to face a blue snout._

"_Whoa! Easy there, Strike!" Whale held his hands up defensively, much to Strike's surprise until he looked down at his belt where he saw his hand on the gun placed in its holster. He lowered it. _

"_I-I'm sorry Whale…I'm just on edge right now, I guess I have been for a while now…" Whale silenced, ever since Strike's been found he's been…off. Whale worried for his friend but didn't want to pry. "The Minute-Troops. Inferno. Celtic! The Princess has yet-" Strike's breathing began to speed up._

"_Hey, hey, chill!" Whale tried to calm his friend down. "I know that things have been stressful lately, but I think that we should focus on the tournament most of all right now." Whale placed a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder. _

_Strike looked at the hand. "Yeah, you're right. It's just been one hell of a week." He eased up. "…Anyway, let's just meet the Minutes and go back to the AAA conference room."_

_Whale smiled. "Chin up, friend!" He turned around and wrapped an arm around Strike. "I heard from Slip that Rade went all out and made a reservation at some restaurant to celebrate the Alliance!" The two began walking towards the Docks. "Not only that, but I have someone I want to introduce you to! I'm sure you two will hit it off well!"_

_The two opened the doors to the Docks. All around the loading area were ships of Arkosian design with many pilots and soldiers making their ways from the ships to the Barracks. Standing a little ways off from the group was a man in a pilot's suit. The man looked anxious but in a good way, his hair was grey on the sides with a fluff of black on top despite this however, the pilot seemed very young. Whale made his way to the pilot and Strike followed. _

"_Strike, meet Mr. Penguino!" Whale gestured with his hand. _

_The man stood up to attention, being in the presence of two Oligarchs and what not. "S-Sir!" The pilot offered his hand to the Oligarch. "Pleasure to meet you, sir!"_

_Strike put his hand up. "There's really no need for all this 'sir' stuff! Please, just call me Strike!" _

_The pilot nodded furiously. _

"_Strike! Penguino here graduated as top of his class in the Academy! Which Academy was that again Penguino?" Whale asked with a smug smile._

"_The Arkosian Freedom Flight Academy, sir! I mean….Mr. Whale!" _

_At this Strike smiled. "Huh, I guess around this time the first batch of graduates would be joining the forces." The Arkosian Freedom Flight Academy was founded a little bit after Ship Survivor in memory of Strike who, at the time, was MIA. Long story short, he was found but the Academy stayed, much to his embarrassment. "So, tell me Penguino, what courses did you take? I'm just curious as to what is offered at the academy."_

_Whale smiled. "Wait for it…"_

"_I- uh…took all of them! Air combat, Naval combat, and even some Mech Piloti-Are you okay sir?!"_

_Strike looked up at the ceiling, a single tear making its way down his cheek. "Thank you…"_

_Whale laughed as Penguino anxiously tried to figure out what was wrong with Strike._

* * *

"-neric! GENERIC!" A voice interrupted the Strategist's dreams.

"Mhhh?" The man lifted his face from the book with some difficulty as some of the drool made the pages stick to his cheek. "Whu…Whale? Hey buddy!" The Strategist gave a dopey smile.

"'Hey Buddy'?! Generic, you've been gone for three days!"

"Oh, was I?" he looked around the desk he had invaded and made his own with many books and discarded papers thrown about in no particular order. "I-I'm sorry, guess I got a little carried away...hehe."

Whale picked up a document seeing multiple familiar names. "What's this?" he flipped through a couple of pages. Images of maps, multiple old and new weapons, terrain facts, mud conditions. It looked like a sporadic mess.

"Oh that! I've been here developing multiple strategies the army of Lancaster can use for when they arrive tomorrow!" He picked up some books and with a long yawn he put them on some nearby carts. "I looked at over 55 different Anomalies, their war-based origins, and thought up a few strategical plays!"

Whale looked at the binder that was labeled _Strategies_. The binder was stuffed full of unorganized papers."55 huh, that's quite a lot…are you sure you're okay?" He turned to see Generic already tilting his head back and nearly falling asleep. "Generic!"

"Hm! Wha-huh?! I'm awake!" He opened his eyes.

Blue Whale King looked at his friend with a worried expression. He was tired, and it showed. Bags under his eyes, slumped shoulders, constant yawning. Whale sighed. "This is no good, the Starting Ceremony begins in a few minutes and you're ready to collapse!"

Generic shook his head furiously. "Nu-uh! For you see!" Generic began, a little tipsy. "This is _exactly _the kinda thing I trained for in the academy!" He nearly fell over but regained his composure.

"…you did?"

He nodded his head as he finished grabbing his research and began stuffing it in his book bag. "I trained myself to sleep walk!" he walked past Whale.

"Sleep…walk?"

"Yyes!" He slurred. "See, I would always stay up late to study for my classes but when it came down to it, I would always fall asleep once the teaching was done making me miss my next class!" he took one step forward. "To remedy this, I learned to walk in a straight line while asleep so I could rest up in between classes!" another step.

"That sounds…entirely unhealthy." Whale worried for the young man.

"It was!" he took another step forward. "So, Whale," the Oceanic Monarch raised an eyebrow. "I still can't turn corners so I'm relying on you to steer me!" another step as Generic closed his eyes.

"Wait wha-"

* * *

_3 days before the AAA's Karaoke Night…_

_The warrior in Bee armor looked at her reflection in the mirror through her helmet. Her Bee uniform was drenched in purple soda, someone had found it immensely hilarious to throw their drink at her when she went out to dining hall. _

_It was her fault, really! She should've had at least a small group go with her! She shook those thoughts out of her head. Her sisters and brothers were all finalizing their bunks and personal battle crafts, and asking one of them would only impede them from doing so. The last thing she'd want is to be a bother. _

_Right now, she was in one of the single-occupant restrooms in Docks Area-B. She wiped at the purple stains on her armor. What a pain. She'd have to change some other time but for now she could deal with the bare minimum. _

_She pressed the two buttons on the back of the helmet simultaneously and with a hissing sound the metallic plates began to unhinge with a series of clicks and whirring noises. The plates pulled back and the woman was able to extract the helmet. The helmet came off with a horrible splotching noise. _

_The woman looked at the mirror and saw her face for the first time in a long time. Psiah. _

_Psiah was ranked as "Bee Keeper" in her platoon making her in charge of the Minute Troops in this Ship War. This would be her first time leading, and she was nervous. She excelled heavily in Hand-to-hand combat, group tactics, marksmanship, and aerial combat, these feats have made her one of the fastest among her peers to rise ranks. But with that came downsides…there always were. _

_Psiah wringed her hair out, dripping Purple soda into the sink. _

_One of the downsides was that she didn't have much of an idea how to lead. Sure, she could take down entire troops by herself if she had the right equipment. And she has too! But when it comes to giving orders, she was a novice. _

_She shook her head and wrung out what remained of the purple drink from her hair. Not that it would've been noticeable in her already purple hair, or behind her helmet, but it was more for her sake than anything else. She looked back at the helmet on the sink counter with a thoughtful glance. _

_The Helmet was standard for any Worker Bee, except the golden trim that served to outline the "eyes" and "mouth". That trim and a few other adjustments to her uniform is what set her apart from her peers. And yet these slight aesthetic changes reminded her even more of her new responsibilities._

_Another back draw to her new rank, was the attention that came with it. Not only that of her peers, or her higher ups, but also of any attackers. She took the full brunt of it whenever people decided to lash out at her or her squadron. It was always in the most indirect ways too. Cowards the whole lot of them. _

_But it was of no matter to her what people thought. It didn't stop these childish attacks from being annoying, but Psiah knew that this was only a small price to pay for salvation._

_A smile crept up to her face. _

_Yes, no matter how many people threw fizzy drinks in her face, or lashed out verbally, the Bees have finally gotten their edge. After two whole Volumes of near nothingness, it all came back full circle and the turns have tabled! It was there for all to see this Volume! THE BEES HAD THE ADVANTAGE!_

_People could lash out and whine and cry for all she cared! For all she cared, was that her and many of her brethren's prayers have been met with a bountiful reward~! The Bragg mines have never produced quite as much as they have all this past Volume and that number would only increase exponentially from now on! There has even been rumors of a secret celebration project the Hive has been preparing for and that they need as much Bragg as they can get!_

_Psiah's face steeled with a smile and a new found sense of resolve. This small victory in this year's Ship War would be a great push in the right direction and an easy thing to accomplish no doubt!_

_With Eclipse's forces all but going into hiding, there was only but a number of forces that could even pose a threat to the Hive!_

_A loud banging and buzzing from the other side of the door interrupted her train of thought. Instinctually she grabbed the opened helmet, wiped down the insides quickly, and placed it on her head as the plates begin whirring and connecting around her face. _

_She sighed with relief once the helmet finished closing around her face. Not wearing your helmet was a severe punishable offense if not under special circumstances. As Bee Keeper, Psiah had some leeway but not all of it._

_The inside of the helmet hummed to life and lit up, showing her a bunch of holographic displays. Psiah went to the door and opened it to show a Worker Bee anxiously mid-knock. Upon seeing Psiah, the other Bee took a step back and a Psiah heard a voice inside of the helmet. The built in Net-Comms only accessible through the Bee's helmets._

"_M-m-miss Psiah! I am so sorry! All the other b-bathrooms were occupied s-so I knocked on the first one I saw!" The worker bee nervously waved her hands frantically in front of her as if to shield herself from the Warrior Bee. "I-I-I can wait for another one!"_

_Psiah sighed. And one more downside, her troop feared her. _

_Psiah connected to the other Bee's helmet. "It's fine. Don't be unreasonable, go in this one." She walked off as the Worker Bee saluted and ran in. Psiah muted all outside noise as she walked to the barracks to get a change of clothes. _

_While she walked she was reminded of all the buzz her Workers were causing, pun, fully intended. She looked at all of them, working to the best of their abilities._

'_That's right,' she thought, 'This War is just one more hurdle we need to pass.' So in the grand scheme of things, what's one or two more bullies with soda really gonna do?_

* * *

Generic woke up, falling backwards.

He landed and opened his tired eyes to look up only to see a giant insect head looking down at him as if ready to attack and an equally menacing hand reaching out for him. "AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" He did what any sane person would do an began to back up, while still sitting down on the floor, until he ran into a pair of legs. He looked up and saw a giant whale head, this one however didn't freak him out.

The Bee soldier, who had her hand extended to help the young strategist out of his spot on the floor, took it back and clenched her fist before walking away with an aura of disappointment.

Generic wiped at his eyes as he saw the Bee soldier turn the corner. "Wuhappen?"

Whale, who's legs Generic had stumbled back on, sighed. "Well, after navigating you about half-way there, you walked into that Bee soldier."

Generic noticed that her uniform's design was different than the other Bees he'd seen around the Ship Hall and on his first day here. "Who…was that?"

"That would be Psiah of the Hive." A voice called out from behind them. The two turned around to see Celtic approaching the pair with a holographic video pulled up.

"Celtic…" Whale glared at the man while Generic covered his mouth on instinct.

"At ease Whale, and child," Celtic laughed as he threw the video he was watching at Generic's face. It stopped just a few seconds away and Generic saw him, sleep walking, and Whale, a few steps behind as who he now knew was Psiah, turned the corner. The two collided but Generic was the only one to fall back. "And you don't need to cover your mouth, this little video is payment enough."

Whale looked down at the video and then looked up to a security camera. "I see you hacked into the security camera systems." He turned to face the man. "I wonder what the Grand Hostess would say about the fact you're hacking her security systems."

Celtic simply smiled. "And _I_ wonder what she'll say about the fact you have a smuggled representative, despite his nation's wishes!"

Generic looked at the ground with a guilty look. "Fine, what do you want Celtic?"

The hacker smiled. "I've been tracking your predicament for a while now," he crouched down to look at Generic's face. He cupped his face and shook him, the strategist was too tired to stop him. "Yeesh, he looks like crap. Well, more than usual that is. You know, as his babysitter, you're supposed to put a reasonable bed time for this little guy!" he ruffled the strategist's hair before standing up straight.

"For the last time-" Whale began but was cut off by Celtic.

"Whatever, I've lost interest." Celtic waved off the Whale's explanation. "Look, I can help you with your problem, if you want my help?" He extended his hand out.

Whale looked at his Net-watch and sighed. "Fine." Whale shook the hacker's hand.

A large smile made his way to Celtic's lips. "Wonderful!" He reached into one of his coat's pockets and pulled out a permanent marker. He crouched down and held Generic's face. "Alright kid, close your eyes." The marker neared the boy's eye. He did so and the world suddenly got dark.

"This might tickle a little bit." Celtic sneered.

* * *

_Day of the AAA's Karaoke Night…_

_Celtic sighed in frustration at the rather noisy party that just walked in. He had chosen this bar because for as close to the Ship Hall as it was, it also was rather secluded._

"_First round's on me boys!" A deep voice called out. _

'_Just ignore them, finish your drink and leave.' Celtic thought to himself as he took another sip of his beer. _

"_Alright," A song began to play in the background. "This song goes out to everyone out there tonight, who just wants to have a good time!" A familiar voice yelled behind him._

_Celtic, despite his best attempt not to, looked behind him to see his old acquaintance, Strike, clearly drunk and slightly roughed up, on the dinky stage singing some foreign song that he couldn't recognize. He also took the time to look around room to find it mostly empty save for Strike's group and like, maybe 4 people all dispersed throughout the bar. Celtic held back a laugh as he saw Strike slurr out some syllables._

_Actually, Celtic noticed that most everybody in Strike's group looked recently roughed up. Save for the Whale dudes._

"_Aw shit." Celtic sighed as he ordered another drink, this he had to see. "Carl," ( ' U ` ) 7 "Start recording, this will make for some great black mail!"_

_4 drinks later…._

"_WOOO! GO SLIP SNAP!" Celtic called out as the odd soldier exited the stage. d ( */__* ) b .Carl was also drunk...somehow. The rundown bar had somehow become more crowded as more and more people flooded in, curious as to what all the commotion was about, some even being Representatives Celtic knew. The man on stage, Slip Snap, had just performed a wonderful solo of I Will Survive and the entire bar filled with a cacophony of applause. This was getting a little out of hand._

_Celtic could tell he was fairly wasted. As a familiar Aquatic Mammalian Monarch made his way up to the stage, Celtic took this as his sign to go. He paid the tab just as the epic power ballad music began, not really wanting to stick around for this part. After pushing past lesser peoples to reach the outside of the bar he saw a Karma on the floor. _

"_Heh, don't mind if I do!" he reached down to get it only for the Karma to elude his grasp. "What the?" He tried again, and again the paper avoided him. _

_Now, normally, Celtic would use his thinking muscle to reason that the Karma was making its way to the alley was clearly a trap. _

"_You get back here!" Now was not normally. The very drunk hacker made his way to the dark alley way and reached out for the now flying karma only for someone else to hold it in his hand. _

_Celtic immediately scowled upon recognizing the uniformed man. "Inferno.." he said, venom dripping from his voice. _

"_Ah, Celtic! What brings you by this neck of the woods?" the man smiled. _

_Celtic extended his hand out, like a child, waiting for someone to give him his toy back. _

"_You've always had such little patience, my friend." Inferno sighed and stuffed the Karma in his friend's palm with a handshake. As Celtic went to pull his hand away he found it rather hard to escape the uniformed man's handshake. "It's been a while since we talked, wanna catch up?" _

_Celtic, not having full brain capacity to make words just shook his head and yanked at his hand. _

"_Come on, I promise to make it worthwhile!" Inferno said with a wink. The man sped up in his attempts to escape his grasp. Inferno sighed. "Look, I just wanted to do something nice for Munkee!"_

_At this Celtic stopped trying to get loose. "…Alright, I'm listening, just let go of me." Inferno released his grip. _

"_Munkee's been so stressed out lately!" Inferno explained. "I just wanted to maybe…give him a reward for all he's done for us!" Inferno looked sincerely to his friend. _

_Celtic sighed. "What did you have in mind?" _

"_I say we make him a ship!" Inferno smiled._

"…_A ship?" Celtic backed away a bit._

"_Yes! A ship! If we ship him with a God he can stay for the whole Ship Wars even if the ship he currently is supporting falls! AND! Any Bragg gained by his Ship will go to him!" Inferno proposed. "_

"…_I don't know…It doesn't really sound like something Munkee would like.." Celtic mulled the idea over. _

"_But come on! Imagine how high of an honor being Shipped with a GOD would be!" Inferno tried to persuade his friend. "It'd be the ultimate sign of appreciation!_

_Celtic felt something bubbling up in the back of his throat. "Heh, Okay. Let's say that theoretically we get this Ship made. How do we get enough votes in the Write-in round to even give it a chance to be in? Let alone what God do we ship him with without stepping on anybody's toes?" Celtic felt a laugh begin to build up…or maybe it was vomit. _

_Inferno began laughing. "Haha, leave that to me old friend! I just wanted to see if I could borrow some of your Renoran troops to give it a fighting chance!" Celtic also began laughing. The laughs echoed throughout the alley. _

_Celtic didn't really know what was so funny, but he kept laughing. "Alright! Sure, you can come around 7 tomorrow and just tell them I sent ya!" _

_Inferno stopped laughing but still smiled. "Great! Hey, can I get a video of all of this? You know, just to show your troops tomorrow so that they listen and don't shoot me?" _

_Celtic tried to catch his breath. "Sure!" _

_Inferno wrapped an arm around his friend's shoulder and led him out the alley for a better lighting, all while discreetly crossing two items off his list. _

_Unknown to Celtic, just behind the alley's dumpster puking his guts out was Strike, who was a lightweight when it came to heavy alcohol. He separated himself from his group a while ago and overheard everything and soon an idea began to form in his drunken head._

* * *

"I said, leave him alone Celtic!" Generic heard Strike's voice from the darkness. He opened his eyes to see Celtic running off, all while flipping the double bird to Strike, and dropping a marker on his exit. Strike sighed and turned to Whale who was looking at the damage Celtic had caused to his friend's face. "Whale, why the hell was Celtic drawing a mustache among other things on our strategist's face?"

Whale wiped away a rather obscene drawing that decorated Generic's left cheek. "Well, at first he said he was going to draw fake eyes so if Generic fell asleep he'd look awake!"

Strike face-palmed.

"But after I noticed he was making one too many "missed strokes" I realized something was up!" Whale posed dramatically.

"And you did nothing until I arrived?!" Strike looked at the practically catatonic boy who had many marks across his face.

"Well…I was about to!"

Strike shook his head and pulled the boy up. We don't have time for this! Whale, just use your strength to carry him! The Starting Ceremony begins in 5 minutes!" Strike nudged the boy over to Whale who just had a look of realization on his face as if the thing just revealed was something he could've done about 3,000 words ago.

Whale picked him up and followed Strike with a little bit of a fast pace. The bumpy trip lulled Generic to sleep once more.

* * *

_1 Day After The AAA's Karaoke night…._

_Melanie had one the biggest headache she has had in quite a while. The reason?_

"_So you're saying that I somehow did this shit?!"_

"_I'm not saying that at all! All I said was that whoever did this made their way to the security cameras, had advanced access to areas, and new when and where the security personnel were stationed!" _

_Melanie looked as her two closest friends and co-workers were argueing…again. _

"_Torvald, that's me! I would know all those things!"_

"_Your words not mine!" _

_Melanie stood up from her chair. "Alright, that's enough! This is getting childish!" Melanie silenced them both with an intimidating presence. She turned to the scientist, Torvald. "Torv, maybe try the presentation again in a way that doesn't seem like you're accusing one of us to be a spy?" _

_The man sighed and pushed a button on his Net-watch to make the holographic slideshow go back a slide. _

_Melanie sighed as she sat down. Her head hurt so much. A hangover, she figured, but trying to remember the events of last night made everything whirly for her so she attempted to work through the pain._

"_Alright, as we all know four days ago an intruder broke into the Anomaly Portal Connection Machine. This assailant made it all the way to the Power Core level unstopped and stabbed a foreign crystal into the Bragg Core." He swiped in the air to go to the next slide, a picture of the dark purple crystal. _

"_After much careful consideration and many a rough drafts we at the Research and Development department have settled on the name, D-Spairium. The D, stands for Damaging," Melanie rolled her eyes. "-which is exactly what this crystal does." Torvald pulled up some files on the hologram. "As studies have shown, Bragg has an effect on people's mind. It can give people vast amounts of pride and confidence and even more so if in direct contact with it."_

_He swiped up to show a chemical compound. "This is what Braggtonium's molecular compound looks like." He swiped up again and a similar, yet vastly different image came up. "And this is D-Spairium's compound. Look familiar?"_

_Orin quickly spoke up. "It's inversed!"_

"_And negatively charged. This shouldn't change much if anything in normal Bragg, but it seems to have made an entirely new element here. And with its own effects on people too." _

_A swipe onto the next slide and a video popped up. It was of a man in an intern's lab coat, sitting on a stool in the middle of an empty room. _

"_Torvald, what the hell is that?!" Orin stood up._

"_Just a simple test, nothing the intern didn't want to do. No need to get all worked up Orinthia." The scientist answered._

_The intern looked about the room anxiously, worried. _

"_What is going on with him?" Melanie got closer so she could look at the video. _

"_That's the thing! It seems that D-Spair has a very similar effect to Bragg! But the complete opposite at the same time!" _

_The intern began standing up from his stool and started pacing around the room. _

"_What's he doing?" Seth, the towering man who was silent up until just now spoke up. _

"_Hold on, this is where it gets weird." _

_The man began looking at the walls before settling his gaze on one area. "Forgot to mention," Torvald spoke up as the man touched the wall. "We hid a small sample of D-Spair in one of the walls, so as to make this a blind-test." The intern immediately backed away and made his way to the door but found it to be locked. He knocked on the door frantically and looked back at the wall. He started tugging at the door with great force until the door was opened. "Similar to how prolonged contact with Bragg seems to give people a sense of invincibility, it would also appear that a prolonged effect of D-Spair is a sort of primal panic." _

_Melanie made a swiping motion in air and shut the presentation down. "This only further proves our worries that whatever this is, this is dangerous." She sighed. "Alright, we need to stop messing with this stuff and contain it somewhere where it won't have the chance to infect more Bragg." _

_Torvald nodded. "I've already contained the D-Spairium in a maximum-security storage room, and I've also taken the liberty to line the walls with Lead, it seems to cancel out its gloomy aura effect!" _

"_Good. Let's make sure that we have a few security cameras set up in there and someone standing watch on the outside of the vault incase our friend decides to stock up on more supplies." Orin picked up her Net-pad and began typing some objectives on a list. _

"_And back to my second proposal," Torvald began, much to Orin's displeasure. _

"_I already said no! My team doesn't need tracking, I have full faith in every single one of these people!" Orin stood up, ready to fight again._

_The scientist sighed. "You're putting your faith and pride in your team before the safety of others." Orin hesitated. "Look, it's not just your team that would get these tracker passes, it'd also be Seth's chefs, and lobbyists, and whatever! And my programmers and engineers!" the man swiped up to show another holographic display. _

_The rough concept of an ID badge type of device was projected. On the left hand corner was a stock photo with sample information and a barcode written on the side; and on the right side was a metallic slab with a small protruding red dome. It looked…creepy. Like someone slapped a big, metallic red eye on a normal ID._

"_I know how it looks, but this is a basic concept here!" Torvald reassured the other members of Melanie's inner circle. "It will be able to track every person at all times and tell us exactly if anyone's reaching restricted areas and we could send security to go to that person's location and well…beat em' up!"_

_Melanie looked at the ID, as horrendous looking as it was it was for a good cause. "And anybody found not having the new ID we can count them as suspicious…" _

"_Exactly! My development team can have these made as soon as tomorrow!" _

_Melanie leaned back in her chair and sighed. "…Orin?" she turned to the head of security. _

"…_As inhumane as this seems, if it's to maintain the safety of the guests, then yes do it."_

_Melanie nodded, and turned to the head of human resources. "Seth? You in?"_

_The intimidating man with an eyepatch nodded his hand. _

"_Alright, you have my permission Torv." _

_The man nodded and exited the conference room._

"_Was this the right choice? I don't think the staff will be all too pleased that we're telling them we can't trust them." Seth spoke up. _

_Melanie shook her head. "Then we don't." She stood up and walked to the door. "We just tell them that we're updating our security to keep up with the times." She walked out the door and the two followed her. "We need to hurry, we're late for the Starting Ceremony."_

* * *

Generic woke up as he felt a rather hard slap on his back. "Ow!"

"Oh hey, you're finally awake sleeping beauty!" Slip Slap laughed as the Strategist looked around his new surroundings with confusion on his face.

The room was gigantic, with several stages set up all through out the place with one big stage in the back of the room taking most attention at the moment. The walls were all white, with a trim of gold. Right now the AAA were all gathered in a group, near the center of the crowd.

"Would you two shut it?!" Rade looked back at the two making them stand at attention. "What's taking The Grand Hostess so long?" Rade impatiently began tapping his feet.

"Patience, Rade," Strike reassured the man. Melanie walked from one of the side doors that lead to the "behind the scenes area" as the guests usually called it, to the stage everyone was looking up to. "See?" Two other people took to Melanie's sides. A very stern looking woman on the right and a very tall man with an eyepatch.

She reached into her coat's pocket, pulled out a microphone, and brought it to her face

"Hello and welcome everyone to the fourth inaugural Ship Wars Tournament!" A round of applause roared across the room. Melanie raised her hand and the audience hushed. "Now then, we have some very interesting results from the Write-in Round but as usual, I have to remind everyone how this Tournament works!" A holographic display appeared behind her where everyone can see. "Once all the contestants have been announced they will be placed in a bracket! Each "war" is called a match and will be fought by two armies in what is called an Anomaly Zone!"

Images of armies fighting in a foreign terrain was shown in the projection.

"Anomaly Portals are natural occurring events throughout the cosmos we inhabit. In these Anomalies lies Bragg, and lots of it too! But of course, it's dangerous to go into the Anomalies as you can seriously suffer a lot of physical and mental injuries and not to mention that they are hard to find too." A swipe of her Net-Watch and the next slide showed.

"That's where I come in! The Anomaly Portal Connection Machine, or APCM for short, tracks these natural events, makes a portal connected directly to that same Anomaly very close by and that's where your armies go." Melanie points at the crowd. "All of you send in your Armies to fight in one of three objectives until completion," an animation came up on screen of a soldier shooting a high-tech pistol at something. "And don't worry, if your body takes too much damage it will instantly be transported into the infirmary, but you are now eliminated and can't return to the fight!" The soldier got shot and as his body phased out the scene changed to an infirmary where he phased in and was safe and sound. "After an objective has been completed the Anomaly closes and pushes out anyone else remaining in the Anomaly zone, and whoever accomplished the objective first is who wins the match and moves up in the Bracket!"

"There will be two matches a day on Monday and Friday so we can speed this up a little. Any other questions you may have please feel free to reach out to Seth," She gestured to the man behind her with and intimidating aura. "who has this entire system memorized front and back!"  
Melanie reached into another pocket and pulled out an envelope, "Now for the moment you've all been waiting for!"

Celtic looked up towards the stage until he felt a tap on his shoulder, he turned and came face to face with Inferno. He immediately scowled "Ugh, what now Inferno?"

"Easy there, buddy! I just wanted to see if you still doubted my powers of precognition?" Inferno smiled

"Hmm…let me check real quick." Celtic held up his fist and then began to wind it up like a music box until his middle finger popped up. "Hm, interesting! I still think you're pulling this out of your ass! Who would've known!"

Inferno smiled smugly as he flipped a page and showed a very crude stick drawing of a man flipping him off. "I did."

Celtic rolled his eyes. "That's just because I'm predictable when it comes to dealing with people I don't like."

Inferno acted mock-hurt. "Oh how your words wound me, old friend." He recovered rather quickly. "How about this, we make a wager! I bet I can name all the winners of the Write-in Qualifiers!"

Celtic laughed. "Ha! I would, buddy, but I just spent all my Karma the other day at the bar! Fraid' I can't really bet if I have nothing to bet!"

"Oh really? But what about that fifty-six Karma Strike and Whale paid you the other day for doing that odd job?" Inferno smiled smugly at Celtic's shock as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"How did you-…Fine, go ahead." He pulled out a sheet of paper. Write em' down, hurry too, I want to see your face when you're wrong and this whole prophetic Bullshit is out of your system."

Inferno pulled out his own piece of paper. "Because I knew you'd already agree." He handed in the list of Ships.

Celtic looked at the list and smiled. "Oh, it's going to be great when you pay me fifty-six Karma because of this stupid act!" The hacker pulled out his wallet.

"Now, the Ships that made it in were!" The Ship Names all popped up by which one had the highest votes in a list. Monochrome. Pink Rose Gold. Sea Munkees. Arkos of Erusea. Iceberg.

Celtic looked from the screen to the piece of paper carefully re-reading the names all in order too. Monochrome. Pink Rose Gold. Sea Munkees. Arkos of Erusea. Iceberg. "H-how?!"

Inferno simply smiled and extended his hand out. "I'll be taking those fifty-six Karma now."

Before anything else happened a yell was heard throughout the room Telecomm Room.

"GODSDAMMIT STRIKE!" Whale bellowed as he turned around to follow Rade and Slip who had begun chasing a retreating Strike leaving behind a sleeping Generic, a very annoyed McDouggal, a nervous Torrasque, and a smiling Jannis for everyone to see.

From the back of the room the Various Rodents collective saw all of this. "Interesting…" the Porcupine spoke up before ordering his companions to turn their disguise mech around and go back to the room.

Psiah noticed the commotion but kept her view facing forward as she was trained to. Still, she activated her Helmet's back cameras. "Buffoons…" She muttered under her breath.

Munkee looked at the group and stifled back a laugh. "This year's gonna be an interesting one, huh?" He looked at the board. Ice Berg and Sea Munkees. The second one made him feel dread but he appreciated the gesture with a smile. Outcast grinned as he felt a familiar, warm feeling rise up from his chest. "Let's get started."

"Thank you all for voting! We will have the Bracket out by tomorrow and the first match ready by Monday! And remember:"

"Nobody ever dies in Ship Wars." The group of representatives, well, the one's not chasing a pilot, droned back.

"No matter how much they deserve it…"Celtic scowls as Inferno walks away with his money.


	7. Chapter 7

Strike sat down in the seat with a sense of dread. He put his face to his hands and sighed as he rubbed his temples.

"I just want to know what made you think this was a good idea, Strike?" Whale paced. The two were in a bathroom in Docks Area-T. After much running and eventual intervention from security the AAA members were sent to their rooms for the day. A day has passed and now the two had reconvened in a makeshift strategy room.

Strike shook his head. "I-I don't know? I thought it'd be funny? I was severely wasted? I didn't think it'd get in or do this much damage?" The pilot deflated in his seat…which was a toilet…he wasn't using it of course, that'd be weird.

"But Arkos? And the Princess?!" Whale stopped pacing and turned to his friend to notice the dreary expression on his face. "I…I hate to intrude, and I know it's not my place to know but…is everything alright between you and the Princess?"

At this Strike tensed up a bit. He opened his mouth but instantly closed it as if to rethink it all. Strike fiddled with his thumbs. After a solid minute of silence Strike finally spoke up. "It's just that…I-since I was found I haven't really felt…all right. Y'know?" He turned from his thumbs to face Whale.

The Whale apologetically shook his head. "I don't, no. I'm sorry."

Strike sighed. "After I was found people told me that everything was fine, that things were going to get back to normal, but it hasn't been so far and everything's been feeling…off. I tried to remember what happened to me, how I went missing in the first place, but everything is blurry."

"It's a common thing that happens to a ton of people in Ship Survivor!" Whale tried reassuring his friend but Strike shook his head.

"No…it's like, I wasn't there…at all. Like a chunk of my life is missing. And I think the Princess knows about it." Strike's mood fell even more. "And I think whatever it is, she feels guilty about it. Like, she blames herself because I don't feel fine. I feel this…_distance_ between us that I just can't remember there ever being."

"And so you thought bringing the Princess here would somehow fix that?"

Strike nodded. "Or at least make it so that she can't avoid me as easily."

Whale looked thoughtful. "I see…Well, I only hope that this opportunity gives you the answers you were looking for, friend. And that we can make amends with the Alliance." Strike looked at the floor in shame at his friend's statement until he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to a smiling Whale. "Hey. I mean it. I hope your mind is at rest Strike. When we lost you in Ship Survivor I joined on the first expedition to look for you all the way to the last one, if this War is one that we need to win so you can finish finding the rest of you, then that is a war I will fight tooth and fin for!" Whale held a thumbs up.

Strike exhaled with relief and held a thumbs up too.

Just then, Generic walked in with Venom in tow. "Ah! There you two are!"

"Any news from Rade or any of the Legion?" Whale turned around and faced the strategist.

He nodded. "Yep. Rade said he was willing to forgive you since it was a mistake and that you didn't do it on accident." He deflated a little bit. "Though it did take a lot of convincing…"

Strike nodded and stood up from his seat. "Well then, let's go make amends."

* * *

The Head of Security, Orinthia Malus, walked up the stairs to the third floor of the APCM with two coffee cups from the Mess Hall in each hand. She reached the third floor and saw her boss and friend, Melanie Antiqua, seated on the floor typing away at her computer attached to a burned terminal through a mess of wires of all kinds of colors. Around her were books and notes all scattered about, some her own, others information on the latest technological advancement.

"Grand Hostess Antiqua!" Orin made her way through the mess on the floor, careful not to overturn or move her boss' work. She knew that Melanie had a mess, but it was a mess on purpose. Every flung about paper, every book sprawled out, every page flipped to, it was all on purpose to Melanie. "I've brought coffee with me!"

Melanie finally found a resting place in her work and sighed. "Orin, it's just us two, you don't need to do all this 'Grand Hostess' crap with me." She scolded.

Orin untensed a bit. "Right…Mel." She sat down beside her friend and handed her a coffee cup. "I got you some coffee, thought that you might try burning that midnight oil."

Melanie looked at the cup and after a while grabbed it and began taking a quick sip of it. "Thanks."

Orin looked over the Hostess' shoulder and saw a wall of endless code being typed out. "You're trying to fix the HP saver?"

She nodded. "Or at least I'm trying, I can't shut off the machine completely until after the first round and even then, there's no guarantee we'll be able to fix it all the way. I'm trying to get the most basic components to work, namely the ones that don't let people die and the one that doesn't have them stuck in an Anomaly Zone."

"Mel, you ever think about retiring?" Orin thought out loud as she looked at the tiredness in her friend's eye.

Melanie let out a chuckle. "Always. But I won't do it."

"…Why not?"

Melanie picked up a book and continued to type out a code written on the pages with a purple pen. "Because I'm not sure if anyone else would do this." She sets the book down and begins typing two times as fast. "I'm not sure if anyone else would be able to handle this much responsibility, if they can keep the legend alive." a silence between the two as Melanie kept typing away at her computer.

Orin looked at her sleep-deprived friend's face and knew that only one thought was racing across her mind. 'Don't let anyone die.' Which is why she was focusing on the HP Saver herself when the Shortcut maker had received more damage. Orin reached into her uniform's breast pocket and pulled out two ID's. Hers and Melanie's.

She looks from the creepy looking piece of tech to her tired friend and tossed Melanie's away into the corner of the room.

* * *

As Strike walked into the AAA conference room he saw all three Legion members sitting in their usual seats. Rade in the front of the table with Slip on his right and Torrasque on his right. Jannis was in his seat in the back of the table with McDouggal and talking to him until they noticed the entering group's presence.

A long moment of silence filled the conference room.

Generic leaned towards Venom standing to his left. "Geez, this moment is so awkward, makes you almost want to say something just to break the silence, huh?" he whispered but with the silence of the room everyone heard it.

Rade sighed and stood up. "Look, I know what we're all going to do. You're going to say you're sorry begrudgingly, I'll be angry but I'll forgive you because it was out of your control and you had no idea that it would take White Knight's place, so can we just skip that with a handshake?"

Strike was surprised. "I-I-I…sure." He extended his hand out.

"You must be crazier than I thought if you think I'm standing up all the way just to shake your hand." Rade puts his hand forward.

Strike, with no hesitation, walks around the table to shake Rade's hand. Everyone stares in shock and silence as the Arkosian Oligarch clasps the sergeant's hand and firmly shakes it. After noticing everyone's shock he looked around. "W-what? Do I have something on my face?"

McDouggal broke the silence. "Uhm, well, you see…"

"It's just that there's a stereotype of the prideful Arkosian for a reason!" Jannis cuts in, holding back a smile.

"Er..yeah. What Jannis said." McDouggal finished.

"What? That's crazy, Arkosians can be humble!" Vaniellis, who still sounded a little raspy but was definitely recovering his damaged vocal cords from a Karaoke Night.

"Yeah! I'd even say some Arkosians are humbler than some-okay, I see your point." Cayde stopped mid-sentence.

Strike rolled his eyes. "Well if that's true, then you know how much this means to me."

Rade smiled, stood up, and returned the handshake back with much enthusiasm. "Alright then, now that that's settled let's hurry up and finish this meeting. The White Knight Minute-Troops arrive today and I'd like to meet them!" He releases the handshake and walks towards one of the seats on the side.

"Wait, you still called The Legion? Even if they're not gonna participate?" Venom asked as he walked to his seat.

Torrasque nodded with a smile. "Yep, Rade sent the message out prematurely a few days ago so we can't exactly turn them back." He turns to Generic. "So we'll just go ahead and skip a step in your plan and have our Minute-Troops docked up in Pink Rose Gold's Docks."

Everyone made their way to their seats except for Strike who made his way to the front of the table where the Net-Comm was. He pulled out a Net-Pad and swiped up to project a hologram of the Bracket. "So far, we only have one big issue right now. And that is misinformation, I see a few new ships that weren't here last year. We don't know their preferred weapons, how it's forces adapt to Anomaly situations, how much Bragg each Nation brings in on a yearly basis and-" Strike stopped talking after seeing many confused faces around the table. "…I forgot that for many of you, this is new information."

Everyone but Jannis and McDouggal nodded their heads.

"I see. Then that's a lot of misinformation. Okay, looks like I'll have to explain how this competition works. Melanie only gave a brief explanation because she assumes that everyone who does this has an advanced intelligence scouting program or are returning representatives. Well, let's start with-HEY!" Strike stopped mid-rant as he noticed McDouggal and Jannis sneaking out the door.

The two straightened up. Jannis coughed into his fist to clear his throat. "Eheh…Look, Strike, this Alliance is very important to us buuuu-"

McDouggal rolled his eyes. "But we already did the Tutorial stage!" he cuts in.

"Yeah, what McDouggal said. Our troops arrive today and we have to meet up with them. So while you explain what we already know, how about instead _we_ go meet our troops?" Jannis proposed.

Strike nodded. "Fine. Go, I would've appreciated the help, but whatever."

"Thanks." McDouggal says as he walks out of the room and Jannis follows after waving goodbye.

"Alright, first thing you need to know about Ship Wars is that none of the fighting happens on our sub," Strike pulls up a blank hologram and begins using it as a whiteboard. He draws a circle and colors it in purple. "Anomaly Portals are naturally occurring things that happen in sub-space. Each Portal leads to an Anomaly Zone."

"An Anomaly Zone?" Slip Snap asked, he had a notepad out in front of him writing down notes but upon closer inspection they were propaganda meme ideas.

"Yes. Anomaly Zones are…interesting. I believe The Grand Hostess once said that there are as many Anomaly Zones as there are stars in the night sky. Each Anomaly Zone is different in terrain and weaponry. One Zone may have you in the seas fighting each other as Pirates, one could be in space with high-tech weaponry! Other than in Melanie's contest, it is damn near impossible to predict what these Anomaly Zones hold. So while they hold vast amounts of Bragg, the Mod Council has banned travel into these Portals."

Generic raised his hand.

"Generic, you don't need to raise your hand, just ask your question." Strike wiped the drawing of the Anomaly Portal.

"Earlier you said something about Pirates, and then something about space? How is that possible? Why do we need to sail the seas when we have personal ships that can float well over 60 ft in the air?"

Strike smiled. "If it were that easy, all the battles would be the same, in one way or the other." Strike drew four stick figures. "When one goes into the Anomaly Portal, their weaponry and other technologies also change." He drew a lazer-gun on the first one, a revolver on the second one, a bow and arrow on the third, and a club on the last. "The best I can explain it is like actors getting the correct props for the setting. If you're in a futuristic setting, your technology stays relatively the same." He draws an arrow from the first to the second one. "Go into a Wild West setting, your outfit gets traded out for spurs and assless chaps. Your personal ships become wagons and horses; your guns become whatever gun was available at the time." He draws an arrow from the first to third.

"So, then why have all this advanced tech in the first place? Why not just go in holding sticks and driving carts? Won't they be the same?" Rade's brow furrowed.

Strike winced. "Not exactly. Take the new introduction of Ship Survivor, for example. We're finding that around the same time, every year, one large anomaly portal envelopes the sub into an Anomaly Zone and reverts it all into a medieval setting. We've found that this new Anomaly keeps some semblance of what you previously had in value."

Venom took a sip from his flask. He leans towards Generic. "I'm telling you it's fun. Every time he says anomaly, take a shot." He hands him an extra flask. The Strategist politely sets it on the table.

"Wait, what?" Slip looked slightly confused.

"Think of it as an equivalent exchange, you have a high-tech gun here, the Anomaly gives you an advanced Cross-bow over there." Torrasque turned to the second-in command.

"Oh."

"Another reason these Portals are banned outside the Ship War is because they may have negative affects to your brain…and maybe body." Strike called everyone's attention again. "There have been reported cases of people forgetting everything once in the Anomaly Zones, they seem to believe that their lives _are_ those Zones. Like, when Ship Survivor comes around, it hits us, scrambles our memories, and we fight. Once the war ends, we're back here with minimal recollection of what happened." Strike seemed uneasy at those words.

Whale noticed this and rushed up to the stage. "I think we get it from here, before a "War" begins Representatives present their cases and appeal to public support to increase their weapons and forces using the Ship Hall's built in Net-Communications device. And once a match begins The Grand Hostess uses her machine to open a shortcut portal to the nearest Anomaly. We get the stats and whoever-"

"Whomever!" Slip interjects.

"…_whom_ever it is, sends in their Minute-Troops and they fight until back-up is sent!" Whale finished up with a smile.

Rade's Net-Watch goes off and he stands up, that cues everyone else to stand up. "Thank you for the history lesson, Strike. But my Legion is here and we need to go make the allotted arrangements for that. You're more than welcome to come." Rade offers up.

"Uhm, no thanks, Rade. I need to contact the Princess and tell her that she's participating in this messed up war." Strike hops off stage. "I need to give her the run-down on the AAA and the situation with Arkos."

Rade turns around and begins walking towards the door.

"…Rade." Strike calls out to the man, stopping him in his tracks but not making him turn around. "I want to thank you. For still fighting even if your ship got knocked out early."

Sergeant Rade Blunner turned his head to look back at the Oligarch who was thanking him sincerely. "There's no need to thank me. There's a fight to be fought and we still have a stake in this match, so we'll damn well help keep it in!" Rade laughed as he walked out the door with Slip Snap in tow.

Strike smiled.

"C'mon Generic, we should probably take this opportunity to check out the Pink Rose Gold Docks, and when we come back we can check in with the Lancaster Minute-Troops." Venom stood up with a bit of a wobble as he gently slapped the Strategist's back.

The Strategist was rapidly writing notes down and copying Strike's drawings as the Pilot began erasing the board. "ALMOST! DOOONE!" He flicked his pen across the paper to finish his notes and began packing up. "I got a little distracted thinking about Wild-West and Medieval war tactics!"

The two left talking to each other alongside Torrasque, and soon followed by Cyan and Sulfur, leaving Strike alone in the room with Blue Whale King.

Strike let out a sigh of relief.

* * *

A rather tough looking man sat in one of the corner seats of the bar. The man? LeMuffin, or better known by his mercenary name, LMFN. He had been contacted over the Mercenary Listing, by name, which is odd enough as it is but what took the cake is by who.

Another man walked into the bar, wearing a cloak. The cloaked man walked towards the barkeep and the barkeep simply pointed to LMFN's seat. The man thanked him and tipped him with a Karma as he made his way towards the Mercenary.

"You are LMFN, the Mercenary."

"And I take it you're Inferno." The Mercenary set down the drink he had and turned to the cloaked man. The man removed the hood of his cloak to reveal bright red hair with yellow highlights.

"How very astute of you. Since you're here I believe you've decided to take my job listing?" Inferno took a seat opposite of the man.

LMFN looked around before pulling out a paper. "About that," he set it down. "might I ask, what do you mean by "Save the Sub"?"

Inferno smiled. "Well, this year's Ship War has a rather…unexpected group," He pulled out a vanilla folder and slid it towards LMFN. The Mercenary looked cautious as he opened the file. "They go by The AAA, The Arc Appreciation Alliance."

LMFN pulled out photos taken from a distance of each member, making sure to memorize each of their faces. "Okay, so you want them dead?"

"No, I want them defeated, and it's in yours and everyone's interest that they are eliminated and soon."

The man looked at the faces all spread out. "Okay, you've gotten me intrigued, why would I benefit from their elimination from this stupid competition?"

Inferno's face became deadly serious. He reached into his cloak's pocket and slid another paper over to LMFN. "This is their plan. Their Strategist left this behind in the Archive Library."

LMFN picked up the paper and looked at it. His face slowly shifted from disinterest to shock, then to horror. "That's- that's…"

"Diabolical." Inferno finished for him. "Like I said in my offer, you'll be payed the same as a Champion for Pollination, and I'll grant you a new skill that you can use to eliminate these pests.

LMFN looked at the sheet once more. Most of the information was written either in incomprehensible handwriting or in elaborate codes with numbers and letters and signs. But he could make out a few words and one word that kept coming up: The Arc Empire.

"I'm in. Someone needs to stop these bastards!" LMFN nodded.

Inferno smiled as his uniform started to flare underneath his cloak. "Good, now here," Inferno pulled out a patch-like triangle and sneakily placed it on his palm. He held his hand out. "Let's shake on it."

LMFN shook the Ambassador's hand and instantly a pain shot through his arm. "AUGH!" He let go and found a triangle sinking into his skin. "What the hell?!" He tried to remove it but felt a sensation crawling up his arm, into his neck, and making its way up to his head. He fell out of his seat to hold his head whilst screaming in agony. The other patrons ignored the noise, seemingly unaffected.

Inferno stood up and looked over him. "Stop fighting it, this skill is what you need to save the sub. I gift you the power of clairvoyance, accept it."

LMFN clutched at his head. "HRGAHHH!" He could feel the pain behind his eyes. A scream of pain was heard throughout the tavern until finally…there was a silence.

* * *

Sergeant Rade Blunner was leading the remaining members of the AAA to the hangar door of Docks Area Z telling them a joke as he walked.

"-and then I told her, PINEAPPLE!" everyone burst out laughing.

Generic stopped laughing and leaned towards Venom. "I don't get it."

Venom, while still letting out a few laughs turned to Generic. "Me neither, but he has a scary scar and I'm not about to be the guy who doesn't laugh at his joke." The two began laughing again.

Rade wiped a tear from his eye. "Oh, man. That takes me back. But anyway, Slip!" Slip Snap stopped laughing and stood at attention. "Did you send the coordinates to the Legion to land here?" The warrior nodded. "Good, all we need to do is move a few boxes from the last people who were here and then we have and empty place for the Legion's troops!"

The Sergeant opened the large hangar doors and as the doors lifted several voices could be heard.

"What the?" Rade looked as the doors rose up to reveal a small troop of soldiers.

Slip Slap leaned towards Rade. "Uh, you didn't say what to do with the last people who were here, sir."

Rade looked at him and then shook his head.

The small troop were gathered around in a circle using boxes and crates of different sizes as seats, in the center was a small bonfire. One of the soldiers had a guitar and was strumming a familiar tune to the Arkosian's present. The others were softly mumbling the words while eating some rations.

Rade's eye twitched. "HEY YOU!"

The music stopped as the group tuned to the very intimidating man. A man with blonde hair turned around too and pointed at himself.

"WHOEVER!"

"_Whom_ever." Slip corrected.

"No, I actually think that one was correct." Torrasque added in.

"SHUT IT!" Rade turned around.

The blonde man stood up, making sure to leave his smore on his crate. "Uh, yes? Can I help you gentlemen?" his clothes were simple soldier clothes donning a base green color.

"Who are you people? Isn't this the Docks Area for Pink Rose Gold?"

The man nodded. "Yep! This is it!" he gestured to the group of soldiers behind him. "And _these_ are the Pink Rose Gold Minute-Troops!"

Generic made his way forward. "There actually are?"

The man nodded. "Yep, though our Nation is considered a Principality with a basic government and our military is around a thousand strong. So you can imagine our surprise when we were told we were invited to this year's Ship Wars!"

Generic pulled out a notepad and made his way over to the Pink Rose Gold's fighter ships. "This seems like very basic tech, for a Principality though, this is impressive! Definitely makes our plans much easier!" he begins to take notes about the Ship types and their fighting capability. "So I assume you're their leader Mr.?

"Sam Shazam. Sam works just fine." The man humbly puts his hands up. "And no, I am not anyone's leader! We figured that this is a small enough troop that we don't need one person in charge of a hundred people! So we all do our parts and we go by the book on strategies!"

Generic stops taking notes and begins laughing.

Rade rolled his eyes and stepped forward. "Look, that might work well and all, and your group might do some good damage…if not for the fact you'll be taking on armies ten times your size, at least. So from here on we'll instill some order! Slip!" Rade snapped his fingers and the man came up.

"Make a note: Mr. Shazam here, is now Sergeant amongst the Pink Rose Gold troops." Rade begins walking off and starts talking to his Net-Watch.

Sam was exasperated as the odd Warrior handed him a gold star sticker. "Wh-what?"

"Congratulations Sam! We're here to quintuple your army's size!" Torrasque stepped up and shook the shocked man's hand and then walked towards the remaining troops.

The two Whale-humanoids walked up. "We wish you the best of luck with your new position!" Cyan said. "You will be the best of us! Yet!" Sulfur shook the man's still open hand.

Venom walked past the man, nodded, and handed him a mini bottle of liquor.

"Hold on a second, who the hell are you guys?!" Sam turned to the group that was now ceasing control of the Pink Rose Gold's Docks area. The group all stopped.

"Ah, right! We forgot to introduce ourselves!" Rade laughed as he set down Sam's smore. He pointed to himself "I am Sergeant Rade Blunner! Handsome, charismatic, leader of the AAA!"

"AAA?" Sam looked confused.

"I'm Slip Snap! Assistant Charismatic Leader!"

Torrasque coughed. "Assistant _to _the Charismatic Leader!" Slip turned to give him a playful glare. "*ahem* I'm the AAA's Tactitian, Torrasque."

"I'm Generic! The AAA's Strategist!" Generic set down one of the rifles that were set near the ships.

"T-there's a difference?"

"Yes." Both Generic and Torrasque said at the same time, yet never elaborated further.

"I am Cyan!"

"And I am Sulfur, assistants to Oligarch of Arkos, Blue Whale King!" the two Whale-humanoids introduced themselves.

Sam looked confused and looked to his right where the man in the fedora was.

"Venom." He simply said and walked towards the bonfire.

"Now wait just one second!" Sam yelled, calling everyone to attention. "What the hells, is the AAA?!"

Rade smiled as he heard a bunch of loud noises outside the Docks area and began walking to the door. He turned around. "We, my friend," a bright flash appeared making Rade a silhouette as the White Knight ship landed behind him.

"are The Arc Appreciation Alliance. And you've been accepted in!"


	8. Chapter 8

_**Week One, Monday.**_

The AAA walked in a group with Whale as the spearhead, Generic to his right, and Sergeant Rade Blunner to his left.

Whale turned a corner and so did the rest of the group. "Generic, how did it go with explaining to the Ships the AAA's plan? I hope well?"

The Strategist nodded. "Yep! Everyone is on board and more than happy to accept the help and lend it whenever necessary!" He smiled as he pulled out a sheet of paper. "It was really easy as almost all of the Ships were considered Principalities and wanted a proper government! The only ones to not accept our AAA membership would be Very Useful Lesbian. They gave me a definite maybe, though."

Whale nodded with a smile. "Good job Generic, now remember to stay close and be on guard, today is the first match and it can always get hectic."

Strike, who was behind Whale, rolled his eyes. "You say that, but this is your first time doing Ship Wars too…"

"Yeah, why the hell are you leading the group again? Isn't Strike the one who has more insight into these things?" Rade asked, looking slightly annoyed.

"With that logic, shouldn't Jannis or I lead the group too?" McDouggal said from the back. The whole group stopped and turned to see Jannis smiling in the back next to a tired McDouggal. "What? Do I have something on my face?"

Torrasque broke the silence first. "No…it's just you two are the most likely not to show up for a meeting, so we didn't really think that you'd be joining us for today."

McDouggal sighed. "How rude, I'm almost always at the meetings." Blank stares. "I just, don't talk much."

Jannis nodded. "And I'm almost always taking care of my duties as Champion of White Rose! I'm always training my troops or praying to my goddesses or checking what our competition looks like!"

At this, Generic pops out from his spot in formation and rushes to Jannis' side. "You got intel on our competitors!?"

Jannis smiles at the Strategist. "Of course! A lot of people don't have much animosity towards White Rose or the church so people are pretty friendly with me!"

Generic smiles. "Mind sharing with the Strategist?" he asked.

"Of course! But! Only if you come along with me to a Church of the White Rose sermon!"

The Strategist reels back. Jannis laughs as he sees the young man going in circles in his mind about the decision.

Whale sighs. "Look, we only have an hour before the matches begin!" He pulls out a map. "I'm leading because I'm the only one who kept a pamphlet with a map of the Ship Hall! Generic, you can decide on questioning your religion later!"

Generic snaps out of it. "R-Right!" He turns to Jannis. "Uhm…definite maybe."

Jannis smiles. "That's all I ask." Generic nods and makes his way back to his spot next to Whale.

"Right then, enough dilly dallying,"

"Dilly Dallying?" Torrasque interrupts.

"-let's continue on to the Broadcasting Room!" Whale continued, ignoring Torrasque's remark.

* * *

Celtic walked through the Broadcasting Room. The room was large, with about twenty-one different stages set up so Representatives could broadcast their messages to the public and their troops. The stages were rather nice, a little elevation with a Net-Comm like floor to record all movement.

The Hacker sighed as he looked toward one of the particularly loud representatives.

"We need to _Smoke_the Bees out of this competition early!" He yelled, despite the fact the Net-Comm was going to broadcast this at an already high enough volume. "They are barely getting their troops ready! If we strike now, we may have the opportunity to throw them out before their power grows unbeatable!"

Celtic didn't recognize the man on stage, he brought his wrist up to look at his Net-Watch containing Carl. "Oi, Carl." ( ° u ° )7 "Try to hack into that guy's stage and see who the hell has the cojones to say that without the fear of being stung into high heaven…" The screen flickers as the AI disappears from the watch but soon comes back. A holographic display of a file pops up. "Hn…Stanley…"

"Yo, Celtic!" a voice catches Celtic's attention.

The Hacker turns to see Captain Outcast Munkee approaching him. He smiles. "Hey Munkee."

"Hey." He stands next to Celtic and looks up to the stage. Several other people have gathered around the stage to listen to the man. "So, who's the bloke?"

"According to this," He gestures to the holographic display. "A Captain of Smoke."

"Huh, I didn't think they had enough…support, to actually maintain a government." Munkee looked surprised, but tried to stay polite.

"Yeah, well goes to show you how determined rats are not to die." Celtic sighs and swipes away the user's profile.

"Woah, that's some hostility you got there." Munkee laughs.

"Yeah, well Smoke is like the number four rival to Emberald…"

"That low, huh?" He ruffles the Hacker's hair. "Yet you still hold a grudge as big as if he killed your puppy. Never change, man." Celtic glares, but doesn't stop as the man messes his hair up. Munkee turns around and begins to walk off.

"Hey, wait up!" Celtic calls after Munkee and follows after ruffling his hair back to the way it was.

The two walk alongside each other, making occasional glances at the stages and scoping some of the representatives out.

"So, you gonna go campaign some time soon? The only matches today are Bee-Centric, I would've thought you'd be one of the first ones up there yelling this and that about change?" Munkee says as he turns towards his friend.

Celtic rolled his eyes. "I've got a speech planned out," He looked to one of the stages and his eyes caught on a machine a little to the left of it. The machine needed Karma to buy time for Broadcast. "…but I'm kinda low on Karma right now…"

"Yeah, I heard. From Inferno. Did you have anything to do with his dumbass idea to make a ship about me?" Munkee sighs.

Celtic tried to recall but the only thing he could remember was his spat with Inferno on the first day and the fuzzy memory of a karma bill. "No…I don't think so."

"Meh, whatever. It's kinda cool." Munkee continues walking. "How about this, I spot you the Karma so you can broadcast today and you can pay me back at a later date? How's that sound?" Munkee smiled.

Celtic seemed to think it over. "Sure, other than Renora and Emberald, I have no other commitments."

"Great, let's get you a stage!"

Celtic shakes his head. "Those other stages suck, if I want my message to get across to the people, I need the Main Stage!" The Hacker pointed to the stage in the center of the room.

"No way! That's too expensive, you freeloader!" Munkee said but still made his way towards the Main Stage.

"Why not?! You said you'd spot me!"

"But I didn't think that'd you try to go for the bigger stages here! Actually, now that I think about it, I left my wallet in my room."

Celtic rolled his eyes. "Now you're just saying that so you don't pay for the stage!"

The Main Stage wasn't actually called that, at least not to the staff. It was a rather new addition and as such it was placed in the center of the room. Not only did it give Representatives the chance to get the attention of other Representatives, it broadcasted into one of the big screens set up in the center of the Capitol City. It nearly guaranteed a large increase of support for whoever took that stage. Only drawback to such an immense advantage was that everyone wanted it, so Grand Hostess Melanie Antiqua, in all her infinite wisdom, jacked up the prices immensely.

"It's not worth it if you're not even campaigning for one of your ships!" Munkee retorted.

The two stopped at a large gathering around the Main Stage. A man stood in the center wearing a large trench coat and a large fedora.

"-In times like this we cannot give into fear! Are we to attack out of spite every single time because someone is a threat? The Bees only want what we all want! Happiness for our Gods! Just because they've come closer than us, are we to attack them?! That's unreasonable!" The man pointed upwards but his arm moved jankily.

Celtic rolled his eyes. "This is what the Bees have as campaign material? Weak."

"Sush!" A female representative hushed Celtic, seemingly captivated by the man on stage's charismatic ways of speaking. Celtic looked at her in surprise.

A rather loud noise caught Munkee and Celtic's attention as they look towards the entrance of the Broadcast to see Whale and the rest of the AAA barge in, with the doors banging open. Some security guards came to chew the group out.

"Now those guys are interesting!" Munkee smiled as he felt that warm sensation from before.

"Those guys? They're a joke." Celtic said as he rolled his eyes. "That group is as uncontrolled as they come, there is just no way Rival Ships can team up and stay happy." He turns around. "Everyone wants what's best for them, only. Mark my words, that Alliance will go up in flames before this round is over."

Munkee laughed.

"What?"  
"Oh, nothing. It's just, you want us to mark your words a lot!" Munkee began laughing but was also hushed by the same representative who hushed Celtic.

After the guards got off the AAA seemed to discuss something before dispersing into all possible directions. Whale and Strike went off to one of the stages on the side with Cyan and Sulfur in tow. Rade went around the Main Stage and scoped out one of the back stages. Slip Snap…disappeared, actually. Torrasque wandered around. Generic made his way to the Main Stage. Jannis went off to meet with some of his friends and McDouggal stayed near the entrance scrolling through his Net-pad

Celtic put on his cloak's hood to obscure his face and soon the Strategist passed by without noticing the Hacker. Celtic sighed as he looked towards the stage to the odd man giving his speech. "Damn shame they don't charge by the hour…" Celtic sighed but was once again hushed by the representatives. "Carl, add her to my shitlist…" ( ' v ` ) b

Celtic looked at the stage with a bored expression on his face as the odd man was giving his speech. He noticed that something seemed to be moving around in the man's chest. "What the-?" A fuzzy tail popped out of one of the holes between the coat's buttons. A small one, couldn't be there for more than a second and couldn't've been smaller than maybe a squirrel's tail.

"Munkee! Did you see that?! That man has a-"

"SHH!" The representative from before hushed Celtic once more.

"I will destroy **everything you love!**" Celtic's eye twitched.

"Calm down Celtic, you are being kind of rude to the guy on stage." Munkee puts his hand on his friend's shoulder.

Celtic shook Munkee's hand off. "No! Didn't you see it?! He has a rat in his-"

"SHH!" another person shushed Celtic. He turned to look at the Representative from before to see her completely focused on the man on stage. The Hacker looked around to see who dared shush him, his eyes locked with the AAA's Strategist.

The Strategist looked from the man on stage to Celtic. Generic pointed at him, then made a zipping motion across his lips, and then pointed up.

That little shit knew! That little shit knew what was going on with the Rats and the man, and he was keeping it a secret!

Celtic pointed his thumbs at himself, flipped Generic the double bird, pointed at him, and then pointed up.

The man on stage bowed politely and then exited the stage. Celtic grabbed Munkee's arm. "Let's go! Before some suspicious person beats us to it again!" The Hacker pushed past people in the crowd to make his way to the machine with Munkee still in his grasp.

Munkee looked to the stage. "Uh…I think some suspicious person beat us to it again." He pointed with his free hand to the tall Bee soldier taking stage.

"DAMN IT!" Celtic huffed in defeat.

"I believe that's Bee soldier, Psiah?" Munkee looked to his Net-watch. "We have less than half an hour, guess she's about to rally support for the Bees."

Psiah walked on stage and a holographic circle appeared in front of her, a mic. She pushed a button on the side of the helmet and the mouth cap reeled back.

A moment of anticipation hung through the air as people awaited what this mysterious bee soldier was going to say.

"I will be deployed by myself to fight our adversary this match, Smoke. I ask that while you still give Bumblebee your support, not to send any reinforcements. That will be all. Thank you." She presses the button again and the mouth cap seals the helmet off again.

A total silence from the whole room as Psiah stepped off stage.

"W-what the hell? H-how confident is she that she can win this by herself?!" Celtic turns to Munkee, but Munkee was concentrated on the Bee soldier walking away.

"To do something like that…" He smiled. "This year's really shaping up to be interesting!"

"You can't be serious!" Celtic turned as the crowd began dispersing. It'd be pretty hard to top a declaration that one Bee soldier was going to singlehandedly defeat an army. "This "Psiah" is being foolish, and will most likely get her entire Ship Eliminated early!"

Munkee shook his head. "You don't say something like that unless you have the power to back it up. If she pulls this off, Bumblebee will have immense support."

* * *

Melanie stood in her office looking at a bracket list. Today's two matches were interesting, as in that one of them was more interesting in the eyes of the public than the other.

She was not blind to the power Bumblebee had suddenly gained; it was obvious that tons of people would have their eyes tuned in for this match. Some to support it and some in the small hope that they fell. Bumblebee, after staying nearly dormant for two years, had grown into an absolute juggernaut. This match would set the tone for the rest of Bumblebee's conquer.

The door opened and in walked an assistant. "Ms. Antiqua! We have the APCM results connected to your office so you can begin your broadcasting!" The Hostess nodded.

"Thank you." She waited until the assistant left before turning to the large computer set-up on her desk. She turned the computer on and 5 different screens turned on. One displaying a desert island at night with two moons in the sky, the other was of a sky-scraper like building in the middle of a grass field with some traces of forest off in the distance. "Hmm…This looks like the Midnight Desert Anomaly and a new one…"

Melanie pressed a few keys on her computer's dashboard. Names flashed on the screen of the four competitors. And soon the matches were assigned a location and an objective.

'_**Bumblebee v Smoke: Capture the Flag'**_ _**'Chabeeleon v Fireball: Team Deathmatch'**_

"This should be interesting…" Melanie said with a sigh. She pulled up her microphone connected to the APCM technical room. "Prepare the Portals we will link to the two Anomaly Portals in the following locations." She sent the coordinates.

"Alright, await until I give the signal after my announcements, nothing different from the last 100 times we've done this."

Melane hovered over the Hall's speaker's button.

"IN 3..2…1…."


	9. Chapter 9

Two soldiers walked through a forest until reaching an odd-shaped tree, in which they stopped to rest. One a short, scraggly man with a security guard uniform, the other a tall, slightly chunky man with the same uniform. The two were supposed to be on perimeter patrol, defending _Utility Now_ Labs from an unknown threat.

"Hey Mekh." The Tall one called to the slightly shorter one.

"Yeah?" The short one responded as he pulled his water bottle to his mouth and drank.

"You ever wonder why we're here?"

…They were _supposed_ to be doing that, but they heard from Paul in the break lounge that this was all just a drill in case someone actually _did _try to steal the Rithmamawhatever it was called. Mekh, really wasn't paying that much attention during the assembly.

Mekh seemed to think about it for a second. "It's one of life's great mysteries isn't it? Why _are _we here?" He put the water bottle into his backpack's water slot and continued. "Like, are we a product of some giant, cosmic coincidence? Or is there really a God, watching all of us, with like, a plan for us and stuff?" he sighed. "I don't know man, but it keeps me up at night…"

The tall man looked at his partner with a confused face. "What? I meant like, why are we out here? In this forest? What's all this stuff about God?"

"Oh…" Mekh silently retreated back, trying to reel back in his existential rant.

"Do…you wanna talk about it?"

"Nope!" Mekh rapidly said.

"O..kay…Anyway, I meant, like, why are we out here, in this forest? And further more, why is our secret government facility located in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by trees?!"

Mekh looked behind him to the towering building. A large and very obvious blight on the green, lush wooded area around it. "Oh yeah..Kinda makes you wonder why we're doing our secret investigation in the forest and not deep in some mountains.."

"Yeah."

A silence fell between them as they looked out ahead to more wooded area.

"Alright ladies, enough yappin' we got a war to win!" A strong voice came from behind the two.

The pair turned to the source. A man in a head Security Guard Uniform began walking towards the two with about 10 other people behind him.

The two stood at attention in panic whilst picking up their backpacks. "Sir!" They said in unison.

"Enough with the Sir stuff! Ship Wars, RWBY, and uh any other thing I forgot to mention!" The man walks past the two and the group behind him follows.

Mekh and the other man clutch at their heads as a sharp, stinging pain begins to appear. "Ahh..What the…chief?" Mekh comes to and remembers that this was all in fact, an Anomaly Zone. He was a soldier for the small Nation of Smoke, and was currently in a match against that one Bee soldier who said she could take on the army of Smoke all by herself.

"Yeah, now shut up! We have confirmation on the Bee." The man, "Chief", continued walking on with the group of, now 12, security guards following him. "Picked up on our scanners the enemy ship landing in a nearby patch of woods." Chief smiled and turned towards the group. "Any of you ladies wanna take a fun guess as to which patch that is?"

Mekh raised his hand but his taller friend lowered it.

"That's right! This one! So our job is to take out that Bee before she makes it to the lab, where we have the "Flag" stored in the tallest level of the Tower!" The man continued walking.

"Wow, sir. That was very…informative…" Mekh muttered to himself.

Chief clutched his hand in the air to signal the troop to stop, they obeyed just as they reached a clearing in the forest. The Clearing was peaceful, even with the sharp and intimidating futuristic ship placed in the middle of said clearing. The Ship looked insect like, fitting in with the Hive's incessant want to keep up a theme. A little ways away from the ship stood a rather tall woman in the middle of a flower bed wearing an intimidating Bee helmet. She crouched down to observe some flowers and…the bees pollinating said flowers.

The Bee soldier was wearing a typical Cat-Suit along with a light tactical vest. Her black catsuit had a bright yellow line running down from her hip down to her heel on the left leg.

The Chief instantly signaled them to get down for cover. The troop, collectively, laid down in a stealthy fashion, hiding their noise with the nearby chirping of a cricket.

"Now, men," a small ahem was heard from the back of the group. "And Mia, don't be fooled! Our enemy might just be her, but that don't mean this will be an easy fight! Not by a long-shot. We'll need our maximum effort from all of us, and we can't for one second-"

"I say we fight at her one at a time." A soldier said, but of course all the soldiers were wearing security guard uniforms so the scene looked more like a group of security guards lying down on the floor of a forest.

"Dude, what the hell?" Mekh turned to his partner.

The Chief stopped his planning and looked behind his shoulder to the soldier stupid enough to suggest that, which in turn caused the other soldiers to do the same. "Pardon?"

The Soldier, still not realizing he had said something extremely stupid, continued. "Yeah, our only weapons are a baton and a taser, each. If we go one at a time we can tire her out better." He reasoned. Mekh face palmed.

The Chief looked at him. "Boy!" He reached behind him, grabbed the soldier by the arm, and dragged him forward. "Now you look me in the eyes and tell me you want to charge a Bee soldier trained in one-to-one hand to hand combat one at a time!" He began shaking the soldier.

"Uh…yes?" The shaking stopped.

"Fine. Everyone, instead of charging at the Bee to outnumber her, we will instead attack one at a time in a relay! And Private, uh, what's your name, son?"

"Beryy, Beryy Awesome, sir."

"Of course it is…Private Beryy here," He slapped the soldier's back. "Will be the first to go!" The other soldiers looked confused. "Alright, Beryy, go get a victory for Smoke!" Chief encouraged.

Beryy nodded and stood up from the shrubbery. He took out his taser gun before he began sneaking around to get an advantageous position to surprise attack.

Mekh looked at his partner as he sneaked away, he crawled up to the Chief. "Uh, sir, are we really gonna attack the Bee one at a time?" He asked. "Because that sounds like…a bad idea…"

"Course we ain't." Chief said as he pulled out some binoculars. "Just wanted Private Beryy to see the error of his stupidity." He looked at the Bee soldier with a sadistic smile. "Once Berry gets smacked around a little, we overpower her with a group surprise attack. Cause there's one of her, and 13 of us!"

Psiah crouched over the flower bed. She sighed as she looked at the bottom left corner of her helmet's radar system. A blip. She stood up to look around, or at least pretend to. She knew exactly where the enemy was, all of them.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" A loud voice came from behind her.

Psiah sighed. Idiots, the whole lot of them.

In one fluid motion, she dodged to left and avoided a taser shot and pivoted on her left foot to spin-kick the incoming enemy. The hit landed, hitting the soldier in the head sending him to the ground causing him to drop the taser gun, already used up.

Psiah looked at the man on the floor. A security guard. She cracked her neck and took a fighting stance as the soldier stood up.

Beryy stood up, still slightly dizzy from the hit his jaw took. He reached to the sheath on his belt holding his extendable baton and flailed it to the right to unfurl it. He took a stance.

Psiah sized up the weapon and the man, as she did so anything she focused on highlighted and presented a pop-up with more information. She shook her head lightly to dismiss the pop-ups.

'_1 and half foot-long baton. Simple steel. No modifications. Let's do this._' She extended a hand out before bringing the fingers towards her to taunt.

The soldier, being a background character, took the bait. He charged with his baton and swung downwards to the Bee soldier. She backed out and easily dodged a few more attacks before seeing an opening in the soldier's franticly wide swings.

She took one step forward, breaking her attacker's focus for just a second. That second was more than enough as Psiah used her open palm to strike Beryy's jaw upwards, lifting him off the ground a bit. Before the soldier could recover, she turned on her feet and with the momentum, punched the soldier in the chest. The hit caused him to be launched back several feet until he hit a tree. Upon impact with the tree the Soldier's body began glowing a bright blue hue before shattering. The shards floated upwards before disintegrating mid-air.

Without hesitation, Psiah reached into her utility belt and pulled out three throwing knives and placed them in between her fingers. She turned to a bush, the same bush the small Smoke troop was hiding behind, and nodded.

"B-Beryy.." Mekh trembled as his friend evaporated into thin air.

"She knows we're here…Now! Now Dammit!" Chief instructed. The Soldiers all stood up and charged.

Psiah turned to face the horde of Security Guards. In a swiping motion, she threw the knives hitting two soldiers in the shoulder and one in the knee. She took a stance and smiled under the helmet.

Two soldiers approached her with their taser guns pointed at her. With only a small time-frame, she ducked under the shots and swept at their legs, effectively knocking them down. While crouched the Bee soldier leaned back and flipped backwards to kick an incoming enemy and avoid the downward swipe of a baton.

Psiah needed to disperse the group, thankfully, she knew how. She reached into her tactical vest and pulled out a round object with a pin in it. She threw the grenade at the crowd approaching her.

"Hit the deck!" A soldier yelled, making a few soldiers who hadn't been paying attention disperse, some while diving away from the grenade.

"No you dunderheads! It's a f-" Psiah, with a surprising amount of speed, charged at the one leading the assault and punched him across his face, sending him flying a few feet away and shattering his body like Beryy's. The Soldiers looked as their chief had been taken out. Without direction, they resorted to charging on the Bee soldier hoping that outnumbering her would be enough.

Psiah sighed under the helmet as she pulled out two small, curved daggers.

The first soldier approached and brought his baton down only for Psiah to parry it and quickly turn around to stab the soldier's arm, she kicked him away and turned. As he backed down another one stepped up to attack her. Psiah punched the approaching enemy in the chest, sending him back a bit, before slashing at their abdomen. She high-kicked the soldier in the jaw and then brought it down on his head, making him shatter under her heel.

She turned as she blocked a punch from a guard with no Baton. '_Dolt with no weapon means-_' She ducked before she finished the thought, causing the guard who she blocked earlier take his friend's double attack that was intended for Psiah. '_Dolt with two.._'

A buzzing noise emitted from the Bee soldier's helmet. Both Soldier's standing over her look down only to be hit with a metal contraption that came from the Bee's back, a pair of metallic wings, lifting them a few feet in the air. Psiah quickly sprang up and split kicked the duo causing them to shatter.

The Bee soldier landed and took a fighting stance. After watching their troop of thirteen quickly whittled to a measly seven people standing, the horde of security guards stood their ground.

"Fine. I'll come to you." Psiah said but thanks to her helmet's communication disrupter it came out as a series of Buzzes. After recognizing that her sentence didn't quite hit the intimidation factor she had hoped for, she sighed and rushed towards the seven soldiers.

Time seemed to slow down as she looked at the scene ahead of her. The soldiers were approaching her in a line formation. It'd be hard to sidestep away from them or duck under their attacks. More so, if she charges at any one of them to try to pierce their defenses the other 6 will fold in around her and surround her. While she could take them all down she needs to take as little damage to finish the mission and her goal.

Psiah looked at the seven soldiers in front of her. The third and sixth soldier from the left were the one's she lodged a knife into their shoulders. The first one from the left was the one who's arm she stabbed. From the corner of her vision she could see some movement from behind the wall of people, and even further back in the bushes was one soldier. Time resumed as she decided what to do.

She kept her charge as the soldiers took out their taser guns. 3. They aimed at her but stood in place. 2. They fired on her position. 1.

Psiah jumped high, assisted with her suit's wings, as the taser shots collided and tangled amongst themselves. Upside down, time slowed down as she saw her two targets, the female soldier who she stabbed in the knee, and a short man hunched over a radio. In one motion she threw her daggers with great force at the two targets.

Just as Mia reached her hand out for the undetonated hand grenade, she felt a sharp sting in her head for just a moment before darkness and the sound of glass breaking.

Mekh had stayed back in the bushes despite the chief's orders to charge. He just saw his friend "die" in three hits! That Bee soldier could wipe them all out! Staying further back only helped prove his point s he watched three more people shatter, one of them being his chief. After his chief died he attempted to contact base. After finally finding the base's signal he heard two more shatters.

"This is Private Mekh Aplayz, contacting Smoke headquarters! We need back-up! I repeat, we need back-up! We-" That was as far as he was able to get before a dagger pierced the radio and his hand pinning him to the tree behind him. Mekh cried out in pain as his hand was now pierced at the palm and plunged into the tree behind him.

Psiah landed just as both Knives made contact with their targets. The screaming from the pinned Soldier snapped the Soldier line out of their stupor, making them turn around.

"Alright, it's been fun, but I really need to wrap this up." Psiah said, but once again her helmet only projected her speech as buzzes. Psiah's wings folded back into her vest.

The soldiers watched in a mix of horror and curiosity as the Bee soldier opened her arms and from her sleeves came long, thin, sharp blades with many joints. The blades were painted Yellow with each edge having a lining of black. The joints came undone turning the blades into a whip like weapon made of many small razors.

The soldiers stood still, too scared to move until one finally yelled out in a powerful battle cry and charged. The soldiers, finding a new impulse, charged as Psiah jumped into a wide spin move slicing at the soldier's legs and abdomens with her dual whips.

The soldiers fell to their knees.

It was time for Psiah's finishing move. The whole sub was watching and now was the time to demonstrate the power of the Hive. Psiah retracted one blade whip, leaving one left unfurled. She flung her right wrist making her whip wrap around a Smoke soldier's throat. The bladed ropes cut at his neck as the soldier desperately tried to pull it off. Psiah shook her arm a bit and one by one the joints began to straighten out the whip into its original stinger form, crushing the soldier's neck in the process. With a shatter the soldier is gone and in his place floats shard like lights that soon too, disintegrate.

The Bee soldier turns from the sight to look at the remaining Soldiers, shaking in fear. Some even crying. She could show mercy, show that the Hive isn't a violent or cruel Nation without cause. But doing so shows a weakness, a weakness she can't afford in a Ship War. She buzzes a sorry as in one motion, she shatters the remaining six soldiers with a flick of her arm.

Mekh, who had witnessed all this, panics and begins to pull on the knife as his survival instinct kicks in. He knows he'll live, he knows none of this is real, he knows it will all be over soon. But his eyes and hands tell him that this is it…and that thought scares him the most.

Mekh grabs some sleeve and chews on it as he begins to pull the knife from the broken radio and his hand. He grits his teeth as the pain courses through his system until he yanks the knife out. He pulls his hand out from the tree and begins running, not even bandaging his hand. He runs as fast as he can but only gets a few feet before he feels a stinging pain wrap around his ankle and tug him down. Mekh claws at the ground only in vain as he's dragged closer and closer to the massacre site. He can feel an intimidating presence behind him as tears begin to well in his eyes, both from the pain and the fear. He turns around to see the daunting figure of a Bee soldier staring him down.

The soldier reaches for his taser gun and shoots the Bee Soldier. The hit lands on Psiah stomach, the Bee Soldier observes as the machine makes some noises, but she doesn't flinch. With one hand she pulls it out and yanks the gun from Mekh's hand, tossing it aside. The Soldier resigns to his fate as he holds his hands up.

"I-I-I yield! I y-yield! P-please! I-I'll leave you alone! I'll tell you anything! Please!" He stutters through sobs.

The Bee soldier seems to think it over before pressing a button on the side of her helmet, pulling back the plates on her Mask to reveal insect like eyes on a human face. Two small antennae protruded from the Bee Soldier's forehead. She blinked.

Mekh's eyes widened, still stained with tears, as he saw the Bee soldier's face. He winced as the Bee soldier tightened the bladed whip around his ankle. "Sorry! It's just your face is very, unique!" He nervously laughed.

The Bee Soldier looked unamused. "Where. Is. The. Flag." Psiah didn't ask, she ordered.

Mekh could only mutter a confused look until the blade whip tightened once more.

"The Flag, Ship Wars?" The Soldier beneath her doesn't speak. "I believe in this Anomaly Zone it's disguised as the Arithmamalloy?"

Mekh finally finds his words. "TH-THE TOWER!" He yells. "Th-the Chief said that the Flag was located on the top of the tower." He points behind him to the tall, futuristic sky scraper. All at once the pain rushes to his brain as he looks at the hole all the way through his palm. "It's at the top! H-here!" He throws his ID at her, she catches it with ease. "My ID can get you far, just don't kill me. Please."

Psiah pocketed the ID and sighed.

Mekh feels at ease as his ankle is released. The whip retreats back into the Bee soldier's sleeve and she extends her other hand out to the fallen soldier.

He smiles, looks her in the eyes as he takes her offered hand before feeling a sharp sting in his chest. He begins shaking as he looks from the Soldier's insect eyes down to her arm all the way to the long stinger reaching along his arm, and piercing his chest. He coughs up some blood as it begins lighting up and disintegrating.

He looks back up to the Bee's face. "W-why?" He weakly mutters.

The Bee Soldier's helmet simply closes, silently delivering her answer.

Mekh feels weak as he closes his eyes and hears the sound of glass shattering.

* * *

"That was scary…" Generic says as he looks to the screen. He feels cold all over, despite wearing his heavy cloak.

"No honor. That is not a way anybody should lead." Whale criticizes as he looks up at the large screen as well.

Torrasque finished his notes. "It seems that the Bee's arsenal consisted of knives with those whip blades being her main weapon. But that's just her so I don't think it wise to assume that they'll all be the same."

Sergeant Rade Blunner grimaced. "If that was a Pun, I swear…"

"I don't think it was." Strike says as he looks around.

The AAA were in one of the ten sections of the Commons Area at the moment. A room separate from the Broadcasting Room, but not too far away. Connected to the Dining Hall, this was often the place where Representatives and the like, got to watch the battle with a meal. Sometimes the battle could last all Four days needed. Though not usually.

The AAA had come together at a table to eat and watch the fight. Scope out the competition. Just like every other faction was doing.

"Yo, I was gonna ask if this is where the cool kids sat, until I realized who was _actually_ sitting here." Celtic called out as he set his plate on the table.

Whale rolled his eyes. "And if this is the loser's table, then what does that say about you, who sits here?"

Celtic chuckled as he took a bite of his bread and turned to the large screen displaying the Bumblebee v Smoke War. "An opportunist. Not many people come here because of the scary dude with the scar, a revolution participant, and a Whale War Monger." The group slightly recoiled back as they were called out. A quick look around confirmed that this area, slightly lower than the rest, was deserted except for the AAA. "Face it, ya'll are the unpopular kids. So, I just came here to watch the fight that _really_ matters, because I can actually speak my mind here without people trying to shut me up just so they can protect the Bee's fragile egos." He turned once more and looked at Generic, pale in the face and slightly shaking with his plate of food untouched.

"Woah, what's gotten into you, Newbie? First time seeing some action?" The Strategist didn't talk. "Heh, this is only the surface of the barrel, trust me. You see enough shootouts; you eventually calm at the sound of bullets." Celtic said as he turned to the screen to see the rewind of Psiah stabbing the wounded soldier on the ground, begging for mercy. "Harsh."

Whale rolled his eyes. "Very deep, thought provoking stuff, I'm sure." He coldly said. "But seriously, this area is AAA only!"

Celtic smirked. "Aw, that's cute. You think this little Alliance of yours is legit. Face it, Beluga Boy, this alliance is flawed. Look around, you only have your Jaune ships here. I thought McDouggal and Jannis were part of your alliance? Yet where, pray tell, are they?" He pointed behind him to a table where Jannis was sitting, eating and chatting with other Representatives, big smile on his face while McDouggal was also talking with Nitesco.

"Just saying, yesterday is when you two dunces declared Lancaster and White Knight on your friendship list. It's no coincidence that around that time, Arkosian support dropped, drastically." Celtic's watch displays a holographic screen showing a popularity poll.

Whale's eyes widen as he sees the numbers.

"Lowest of all the Big Four…" Strike mutters as he clenches his fist.

"Want my professional opinion? Ditch the Losers, you'll get to sit out on a lot of future drama, nothing is official yet until Friday, and your support might go back up!" Celtic smiled as he closed the panel.

Whale looked mad. "Alright, that's enough!" He stands up at the same time as Strike and Rade. The three loom over the Hacker.

Torrasque looks over to Generic, slightly shaking. "Hey, it's all right. Once we announce the full plan tomorrow their ratings will go back up, and so will ours." He places a hand on his shoulder and reassures the Strategist. "Everything in your plan will work out."

The Two Whale humanoid's return back to the table with their trays of food and sensing the atmosphere, pop up behind Celtic.

"You have no idea what our plans even are, Falsum Coronam," Celtic's eyes glare as Strike mentions the name.

"Watch it" He interrupts the Pilot Oligarch.

"You're not the only one who can come up with clever nicknames." Strike says as the two leaders stare each other down. "You can't make assumptions as to what our goals are, you call me a puppy when you are worse. You are an Apathy ship, you claim your place at the top and celebrate the fact that you are uncontested. When in reality, no one cares!" Strike retorts back. "You are uncontested because no one thinks there's a better option for your characters so they don't give a flying fuck! Then you get up on your high horse and speak about fighting oppression! HA! Don't make me laugh!"

Celtic stands up, causing everyone else to tense up and the two who were sitting down, to stand up as well.

"Doesn't change the fact that you are, and forever will be, a Puppy." Celtic glared back.

The tension was thick in the room, the Bee fight completely disregarded as neither side gave way.

"HEY GUYS COME HERE!" Slip Snap popped out of nowhere. The tension disappeared as the group turned to the cheery voice.

"What is it, Slip?" Rade turned to his second.

"The guys who were dying in the screen are dying in real life too!" He smiled. "Come on!"

A look of confusion spread through the group as they looked between each other before silently deciding to follow the Warrior.

"Jannis. McDouggal. You guys might not want to miss this." Whale said to the two.

The pair looked at each other before excusing themselves from their own respective conversations and following the AAA.

As the group followed the White Knight Champion Celtic hung in the back, still keeping pace. Generic approached him.

"Uhm, Celtic, those popularity polls, how'd you get 'em?" The strategist hushed his voice a bit so as not to be heard from the group.

Celtic smirks. "I've got my ways, the Renorian army isn't just a big shield manufacturer. Why, you want info, Newbie?"

The Strategist looks ahead to the group following after Slip Snap. "It's for the Alliance, I need to know what the political sphere is like if I'm to make correct battle decisions."

Celtic thought it over. "Okay, fine. I'll give you the database knowledge. But you owe me a big one." Celtic smiles as he swipes on his Net-Watch.

( ^ o ^ ) b Carl appeared on Generic's Net-Watch for a second before a new folder appeared on the Strategist's screen.

Celtic rushes off to join up with the group. "Pleasure doing business with you, Newbie." Generic also speeds up to catch up with the group.


	10. Chapter 10

And we're back! On a side note, Blasphe-Me5564 has unfortunately jumped ship so it's just me now. Also, we will be shifting over to inconsistent updates. Essentially, I'm not even going to try to say that new chapters will be up every week, life has started again and it's just me soooo, yeah.

One last thing, the line breaks signal a scene change, trying out new ways to transition from scene to scene to squish everything to one chapter instead of 3 different ones with three different story lines and one set time period. It's all happening, loosely at the same time if it's in the same chapter, so keep that in mind.

Enjoy Chapter Ten of Meta-Fic Alt: Rising War

* * *

Melanie looked around the room of knocked out soldiers. Twelve soldiers total. She balled her fist in anger. She knew that the HP Saver wasn't going to work at full capacity but this was horrifying. She turned to a soldier with a bandaged jaw, dislocated from Psiah's punch.

The Grand Hostess turned to her medical team. "What injuries did they sustain, and how bad are they?" She turned back and picked up one of the soldier's charts.

A nurse stepped up and flipped through her clipboard of notes. "A few soldiers have serious bone fractures and bruises in certain areas, two of which seem to have sustained internal bleeding. One with a dislocated jaw, another with a stab wound in the head." She gestured to a soldier in the back. "We were able to stabilize the soldier with the crushed wind pipe, the soldiers with cuts on their necks are also stable."

Melanie set the chart down and looked to the back. A soldier, the one who had his neck constricted by Psiah's stinger. He was hooked up to a ventilator making his unconscious form breathe. "How many casualties?"

"Surprisingly, not one. But we do have one patient in critical condition." She flipped through the several pages in her clipboard and led her to a bed behind a curtain. "He's lost a lot of blood from the hole in his hand, his foot isn't responding, and he has a puncture in his heart. He's stable after surgery but we have nurses check every thirty minutes on his condition."

Melanie looked at the man, unconscious. His foot a concerning shade of purple, several bandages around his chest. She walked away.

The nurse walked up to The Grand Hostess. "Uhm…Miss Hostess, with all due respect, I've never seen injuries this bad in all my time working here. What's going on?"

Melanie looked at the nurse and her new ID badge gleaming at her, staring at her like a red eye expecting an answer. She looked away, in shame. "Uhm, we're working on a theory. For now, keep any visitors out, no one is allowed into this room under any circumstance." Melanie ordered.

Her and the nurse walked out of the room. The sound of rhythmic and light beeping filled the room. Peaceful, in a creepy and unnerving way.

"AAAAND THIS IS IT!" Slip Snap opened the door to a supply closet and the AAA along with Celtic walked into the hospital room. "After wandering around I found a bunch of secret hallways! This one led to a back part of the Infirmary building, kinda cool but they only have supplies in there. And then I found these guys just appearing into the room, but then the machines started going crazy and some nurses rushed in so I left."

The AAA looked around at the hurt men and one woman.

"Holy Shit…" Celtic gasped. He immediately took out his Net-Pad and began recording. "This is definitely going on RWBTube." Celtic walked off to the bed of one of the patients. "Woah, this is the guy that got decked by that Bee!" he chuckled as he zoomed into the unconscious soldier.

Whale rolled his eyes away from the sight of Celtic's antics and walked up to several beds. The soldier's shattered by Psiah's beheading. He looked disgusted. "This is bad." Arkos was in the same bracket as the Bees. Eventually they would need to square off. His men would have to face off against millions of soldiers like that monster.

Strike walked up to him. "In all my time doing these, I've never seen injuries this bad. When the Arkosian forces were defeated last year we all were able to walk out with a slight pain or two, maybe a bad headache if it got really bad. Never…things like this. Not from any fight I've seen."

Cayde and Vaniellis stood to the right and left of Whale respectively.

"Wait, if all your wounds were watered down from the Anomaly Zone, how come these guys are in such bad condition?" Veniellis asked as he moved out of the way of Celtic's recording.

"Maybe that Bee hit them so hard it carried a lot more damage than normal?" Cayde guessed.

"If that's true, that one Bee made much more damage than the bullets me and my men took last year." Strike said as he as well took out his Net-Pad and began taking pictures of the patient's charts.

Jannis smiled. "I expected nothing less from my Arch-Rival!" He looked around at the soldiers passed out.

McDouggal sighed. "This is bad, kinda glad Milk and Cereal is on the other bracket." He looks towards Jannis silently who is too busy looking at the damages his Arch-Rival had done to the Smoke Soldiers. He felt a slight twitch in his eye. "Well…mostly."

Torrasque approached a female patient and picked up her chart. "A head wound treated with several stitches…" he flips the chart. "I think this is the one that was stabbed in the head." The Tactician reasoned. He turned to Rade, "Hey Serge-" but stopped as he noticed the man shaking in the middle of the room. He turned away respectfully and continued to look over the chart.

Rade Blunner shook as he looked at the Bee's victims. He looked to the man who was hooked to the breathing machine, at the cuts that will eventually be scars around his neck.

Instinctually, he reached to the scar across his face, it began feeling hot, fresh. Like he was reliving that moment all over again, like he could feel the scar opening. He balled his hand into a fist. He wasn't shaking with fear; he was shaking with fury.

The same could not be said about Generic as he looked at the soldier with a purple foot. He imagined Psiah's bladed whip wrapping around it, cutting into the ankle of the foot. He looked over to the soldier's bandaged chest, the place where she stabbed him to shatter him.

Generic tensed up as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Venom with a serious look on his face. "His hand."

"What?"

"His hand, it's bandaged up, seriously." Venom pointed at the soldier's hand.

Generic finally noticed the soldier's hand, with so many bandages it looked more like a cast. "I don't think just slapping some bandages on cuts these bad are an effective medical treatment…"

"Well what did you expect?!" Strike's outburst caught the attention of the room. "At most, the medical staff here treats small cuts, bruises, and light burns. Every damage you take in the Anomaly Zone is weakened thanks to Melanie's portal machine. So they've never really treated something like this." Strike looks around. "These soldiers should be dead…but worse, they're suffering."

A silence fills the room.

Generic looks towards the soldier. A figure sneaks up behind him.

"I dare you to poke his hole." Slip Snap whispered into the Strategist's ear. The young man pulled away.

"W-what?!"

Slip Snap smiled. "His hole. The one in his hand! Poke it, I dare you." He devilishly smiled.

As Generic squirmed under Slip Snap's teasing the mood in the room lightened up a bit as the AAA members gathered around Generic and Slip.

"Aw come on Generic, do it! What's he gonna do? Wake up?" Rade teased.

"Yeah! Or I infect his wound!" Generic tried to reason his way out of this.

"Here." Jannis smiled as he threw a bottle of disinfectant soap at the Strategist.

Generic fumbled as he tried to catch the object. "Wha!? B-but what if he wakes up?!" Generic realized he was surrounded.

"Hey Newbie," Celtic called from the back of the room. The AAA temporarily dispersed so the Strategist could see the Hacker. After finally getting the room's attention Celtic smiled and slapped an already unconscious soldier. Nothing. "I think we're safe." Celtic records a new video. "Now go ahead and poke his hole."

"Phrasing." Venom coughed into his hand. Several laughs aroused from the group.

Generic looked around at the group expecting him to do this. "Guys, come on. This is childish! What if a nurse walks in?"

"Got it covered!" Cayde says as he pushed the button on the doorknob to lock it.

"Right…" Generic deflates. He looks down at the soap in his hand.

"Alright, that's enough." Torrasque speaks up, received by several awws and boos from the AAA.

"Thank you Torrasque! Glad to see that _someone_ here actually listens to reason!" Generic sighs in relief.

"Yeah, if the kid is too scared to do it, we shouldn't bully him into doing it." He smiles.

Generic feels a little defiant flame within him. "Kid?!" He looks at the soap in his hands once more before he begins to apply it earning an approving whoop from the group. He tosses the soap aside and points upwards showing his index finger to the crowd. He turns around and shakily inches his finger closer to the man's hand.

Suddenly his wrist is caught in a vice grip. The heartrate monitor quickly picks up in speed. The shocked Strategist tries to pull away only to be brought in closer by the soldier. He stares Generic in the eyes, fear evident in both as he feels the group pulling him back away from the man. The machine monitoring the patient's heartrate begins beeping faster with no signs of slowing down.

"R-R-R-RUUUUN! RUN AWAY!" He yells into the young man's face. Loud banging is heard on the other side of the door.

Generic in a panic tries to pull away. Some of the AAA members are trying to separate the two, some stare in shock. Whale looks to his assistants.

"Vaniellis! Knock him out!" Whale instructs in a hurry. The Whale-humanoid makes his way around the AAA.

"ESCAPE WHILE YOU CAN! THE BEES! THE BEES! THE BEE-" is all he can get out before he is hit upside the head by Vaniellis.

The man's grip released. The banging got louder as the machine slowed down.

"We gotta go! NOW!" Strike gestured for the AAA to follow him into the closet. Generic stayed frozen, holding his wrist and staring at the unconscious form of the man. He was shaken out of it by Celtic pulling on him while holding a pocket watch to his own ear.

"Come on Newbie!" He pulls the Strategist away, kicking the boy's instinct to run. He looks back as the door to the supply closet closes shut and he goes through the open hidden door Slip Snap had guided the group through not even 5 minutes ago, making sure to close it so as to not be followed.

As he ran away, he heard the door of the room being broken down, probably by security and worried nurses.

* * *

Two guards stood around the west entrance to the large sky-scraper like lab building.

The Smoke headquarters had received a disturbing distress call for help from a small squad deployed to take down the Bee Soldier. Attempts to recontact the squad were met with radio silence.

For security reasons, the majority of where the guards were set up was more focused on the forest path the platoon was deployed to, the East side of the building.

That being said, the Smoke army was small, so much so that only a fourth of security was set up outside while the rest guarded the flag from inside the building. A strategically wise decision for anyone not facing a highly-trained one-woman army, but they didn't know that. How could they? With as small a force as the Smoke army was, their reconnaissance department was practically non-existent.

The guards looked around while keeping a hand on their hand guns. They had orders to shoot on sight, no hesitation. If this one Bee Soldier was able to take on an estimated group of 9 soldiers, she was a serious threat.

The sun was setting behind the forest's canopy. A slow dimming fell over the two soldiers.

"West Door, come in West Door. Do you copy?" A voice said over the radio on one of the guard's Net-Radio.

He picked it up. "This is West Door, we hear ya."

"It's getting dark so we'll need to turn on the large lights, we'll start with East Door as they are at threat level: A, and work our way down. The lights will only be off for a while, remain on alert for any suspicious activity, and if you're too scared of the dark, turn on your jacket's lights." The man on the radio joked.

The guard chuckled. "We'll be fine, hurry up and work on those lights so we won't have to change underwear." He joked back.

"Alright then." A silence befell the two guards as they looked around. After a few minutes the sun finished setting and the darkness completely surrounded them.

"Hey Will, turn on your light, we need to keep watch." The guard from before reached to his shoulder flashlight and turned it on. A bright, beam of white light emitted onto the grassy floor. From the corner of his eyes the guard could see that his was the only light on.

He turned. "Hey Will, I said turn on your-" His shoulder flashlight shone on the Bee soldier's shiny helmet. Before he could scream, a sharp pain was felt on his neck as Psiah made one quick swiping motion with her wrist.

The guard gasped as he could feel the air leaving his body, blood dripped from the cut and disintegrated into a blue dust before even touching the ground. The guard weakly reached for his radio and picked it up, Psiah shook her wrist and the bladed stinger returned to her sleeves and as if on cue, the guard shattered dropping the radio to the ground

"Alright guys, we're turning on your lights now." Psiah's eyes darted from the radio on the ground to the building's hanging lights and almost instinctually rushed to the security camera's blind spot. She held her breath.

"West Door come in, where are you?" Psiah remained as still as she could. "I repeat, West Door, come in." silence, she could hear mumbling on the other side of the door. "Alright, we're sending someone out."

The door buzzed open to reveal three men wearing helmets that covered their faces. Immediately they spotted her and opened fire. Psiah backflipped to barely avoiding gunfire. She pressed a button on her suit's gloves turning them yellow.

The guards aimed their pistols at her and began firing once more.

To Psiah the bullets seemed to slow down, thanks to her years of rigorous training, she moved her hand with lightning-fast reflexes and blocked multiple shots with her palm. As the three gunner's weapons clicked indicating an empty cartridge, Psiah laughed from inside her helmet.

As the guards turned around to retreat down the hallway leading to a door, the Bee soldier closed the distance with ease. She reached out and grabbed one of the guards by the collar, pulling his body back. As if he was weightless, she picked him up and threw him at the two other guards knocking them down.

As the three struggled to get up, Psiah looked around at her surroundings to study them. The hallway was set up like a crossroads, with multiple offices setup behind transparent windows. The whole thing looked like an advanced accounting firm. Past the trio she was fighting, a door leading into the elevator stood.

The three guards finally stood up and took a fighting stance.

Psiah's helmet changed her laugh into several buzzes. She also put up a fighting stance, making her gloves glow a golden hue.

The guard in the back of the three, the one she threw, takes his radio out. "All security on ground floor one, converge on our location. Prepare defenses on staircases and if necessary, shut down the elevator."

"Roger." A voice said on the other side of the Radio.

Psiah smiled behind her helmet, things just got a whole lot more interesting.

* * *

As the AAA and Celtic exited the secret hallway system, they found themselves back in the commons area.

"Alright," Strike tried to catch his breath. "Headcount, did we leave anyone behind?"

"I'm here." Whale said, completely fine.

"Vaniellis. Reporting in."

"Cayde. We followed right behind Whale." Cayde said. All three Whale-humanoids and Jannis were fine, everyone else seemed tired and out of breath.

"I still…" Torrasque took in a sharp breath. "Don't get why we…had to detour through the woods…"

"I didn't even know we had a wooded area nearby?" McDouggal sighed as he took a seat at a nearby table.

"And who knew a bear lived in the woods?" Celtic sat down next to McDouggal. The Milk and Cereal representative sneakily moved away from the hacker slightly.

"I had a vision about it," Jannis spoke up. "But I didn't really think that was useful to today's adventure so I left it out. I'm glad that my goddesses were able to grant me this chance, and it was only my foolishness that we were attacked by the bear." Jannis kneeled and began to pray.

Rade rolled his eyes. "How convenient…Hey, anyone seen Slip Snap?" He looked around.

The rest of the AAA also looked around only to find no trace of Slip Snap

"I saw him take his bat out when the bear came at us." Generic sat up from his spot in the ground. "You don't think…?"

"Oh, he definitely did." Venom said as he pulled up a photo on his Net-pad. "He sent this after we left."

The AAA who were still standing looked at the photo. On the photo Slip Snap was taking a Selfie with the bear in the background.

"Oh gods…" Strike gasped at the image.

"Damn." Whale took his crown off out of respect.

Everyone sort of put their heads down, except for a confused Rade. "What the hell are you guys putting your heads down for? It's Slip, he'll be more than fine. In fact, I wouldn't be too surprised if he somehow got here before us!" Rade walked off.

"Hey! Where are you going?!" Strike called after Rade but still followed him. Everyone in the group sort of looked at each other but still decided to follow the two.

"I'm going to go ahead and get back to our table, see what's going on in the Bee-Smoke War." Rade shook his head as he walked to the

"Poor guy, he's in denial…" Celtic smiled as he shook his head and sighed.

Rade growled. "You're still here? Why didn't you stay behind instead of Slip?!"

Celtic tsked. "Damn, Anger and Bargaining all in one go. Impressive."

Strike rolled his eyes. "Rade's right, why the hell are you still here?"

Celtic mock-pouted. "As much as it pains me to say this, Munkee was right, you guys are where the most interesting stuff happens. It's possibly one of the few interesting things happening during Hiatus, so might as well stick to it and see where it goes." Celtic shrugged. "But don't worry, I'll be out of your hair soon, I can't watch you guys all day, I have a War to win."

Everyone dismissed Celtic's self-praising taunts as they walked back to their table.

Unbeknownst to them, something was watching them from the shadows. Glaring with all the malicious intent one could possibly muster. A shuffling noise came from the bushes behind the figure causing it to veil itself in the shadows once more.

Slip Snap emerged from the bushes, with some slight scratches and a slightly dented bat. He yawned and walked off to the Pink Rose Gold Docks dragging a bear corpse behind him.

The figure appeared again from its hiding place and looked from the Warrior to the group before following the group.

* * *

Psiah smiled as she dodged another bullet shot and kicked a guard behind her as she cartwheeled towards another guard, knocking him down in the process. With a wave of her hand she blocked a small barrage of bullets with her yellow gloves without looking. She picked up the guard she just knocked down and began to spin using the guard as a blunt weapon by swinging him around, taking down a few more guards before she threw him through a window, shattering him.

As the guards began to get up again, Psiah made her stingers appear once more in whip form before unleashing a series of slashes, shattering at least ten guards. Leaving the others wounded and back on the floor. The Bee soldier instinctually rolled forwards to avoid the bullets from the guards just now arriving from the left and right cross roads. She tossed a tiny drone from her jacket and pressed a button on her helmet to tap into the feed.

On the left and right side, guards were preparing riot shields and tactical flashbangs. Psiah activated the drone's hearing capabilities.

"All outside personnel are to rush in through East Door to help take the Wasp down on my mark to surround her. Command, send down 12 guys from the East Hallway's elevator and prepare to open the doors."

Psiah rolled her eyes at how simple the plan was. She wasn't expecting much of a challenge anyway, but this was just sad. She cut off the feed from the drone and cracked her neck. Showtime.

Psiah rubbed her gloves together glowing a bright yellow. She rolled back into the middle of the crossways once more and aimed her palms at the two barricades the guards had made.

Before they could react and fire or charge or run, a blast of energy came out of both gloves. As the ball of energy came at rapid speeds towards the guards it shattered all the windows on the walls until impact. All fifteen or so guards on both sides immediately shattered.

Psiah stood up and looked at her gloves. Smoke was coming out of them alongside bursts of electricity. She would need to talk to the engineering department again about that bug. After putting the gloves away, she turned to the elevator to see twelve shocked guards standing there.

She smiled with a buzz, walked towards the elevator, and placed herself in front of the group of guards. She pressed the close door button before hitting the button for the top floor.

* * *

Melanie worked alongside the nurses to stabilize the whole new batch of patients coming in. All at once they phased into beds faster than the nursing staff could bring in new beds, causing some beds to hold two to three people.

"Godsdammit…" Melanie looked around at the patients groaning in pain. "Begin treatment for Second-degree burns."

"Grand Hostess! We don't have the necessary materials to treat these many burns correctly and effectively! Our lotions are only meant to treat First-degree burns!" A nurse pleaded with Melanie. The Hostess remained silent as she looked around at the patients. The nurse took the silence as a sign to continue. "I think we should send a small group of nurses to go into the city and look for Doctors and the right oils needed to help these peop-"

"NO!" Melanie cut in, temporarily making the nursing staff in the room look at her. She had to think of a proper reason. Alerting Doctors would possibly give an idea to the civies of what's going on, the sub would implode in on itself because of in-fighting if the Mod Council shut her down. "I mean…if we sent out our nursing Staff, we won't be able to help the next batch of wounded soldiers that Bee Soldier sends in. I'll call Seth to get a Doctor."

At the mention of their boss, the nurses nodded and continued working. "Good, disperse our Aloe Vera supplies between all the patients and focus on areas of the body that seem the most burned on a case-to-case basis. I'll call up Seth."

The nurses nodded and headed off to the supply closet. Melanie walked outside to the hallway. She brought her Net-Watch up. "Orin, come in."

"Yes, Grand Hostess?"

Melanie would need to scold Orin some other time about the stupid title argument some other time. "I need you to call in a Doctor for me and further shut down the Infirmary wing. Something got into a patient's room and nearly gave him a heart attack."

"You thinking it's the thing?"

"It may be. Still, we have more pressing concerns. Call in Dr. Nachbar."

A silence on the other end. "…Peters?! A-are you sure about that?"

"He's non-union, which means no civies looking over his charts. Not only that he's seen weirder shit than this."

"Mel, there's a reason he's non-union."

"Look, we're running out of options and the nurses are being overstaffed. Let's hope that the Chabeeleon and Fireball War doesn't end too early."

"...Roger that."

As if on cue, a nurse walked up to Melanie. "Grand Hostess, the Chabeeleon and Fireball War has ended."

Melanie looked up to the sky, this was the Gods punishing her for making so many people suffer. She rolled her eyes. "How?! The War was set to Genocide mode!"

"Bees are efficient workers, ma'am."

Melanie shook her head and rushed to the room. She swung the door open surprising the soldiers inside. All of them were conscious and some were even celebrating.

"Ah! Grand Hostess! Are you here to congratulate us on a well-fought attempt?" A soldier noticed her.

Melanie was stunned. The stark contrast between both rooms, not even a few feet away from each other was a complete shell-shock. "Uhm…yes!" However, Melanie had learned a thing or two about going with the flow in all her years doing these contests. "I came by to congratulate you guys on a well fought war, not many people can face off against the Bees and hold off for as long as you guys have! _Bee_ proud of that!" Some chuckles and groans from the soldiers. "As you know, you can always stick around to watch the action unfold and maybe even participate in a few more fights!"

The small army looked at each other with some prideful smiles and nods. The soldier from before spoke up. "We were just about to order room-service to bring us a couple of drinks, mind joining us, ma'am?"

Melanie put on the best smile she knew. "I would, but I need to prepare the machine for Friday's War!" Some slight 'aww's from the crowd.

"And you're not really supposed to have room service up here." A nurse pointed out, further deflating the soldiers.

A few sighed as they stood up. Melanie panicked. "But I think you guys did such a good job, I'll lift that ban just for you!" Cheers erupted from the small army. "First two rounds are on me!" Even more cheers.

"B-but Miss!"

Melanie wrapped an arm around the nurse and walked out with her. "I got it covered, we need to keep them here for now, until the Bee-Smoke War ends. Do as they say for now." Melanie walked out of the room.

The nurse nodded and walked off to find room service.

Before Melanie could even catch her breath, an even more out of breath nurse ran up to her. "Grand Hostess! Twelve more soldiers phased in with serious cuts on them!"

Melanie didn't hesitate and ran to the other room.

* * *

Psiah finished slicing through the last guard's neck leaving her alone in the elevator as they shattered.

She stood in the middle of the now empty elevator in silence. Calm and still, as if she was a robot with only the command to kill with great efficiency anything in her way, and it certainly looked so. The teched up helmet on her face made her look less human, and more insect.

Psiah sighed as she looked at her reflection off the shiny metal doors. She could feel the elevator rising with a low hum.

She closed her eyes for a second.

_It was after Psiah had made that bold statement in front of everyone. She wasted no time in preparing her personal ship, The Yellow Jackket, for flight._

_Her instructions from command were clear. Make a statement, destroy an army by herself. Doing so will help The Hive move along to their plan much faster. So she did as she was told. _

_A transmission came in, she looked behind her to find a small Bee Soldier nervously fidgeting behind her. She sighed as she allowed the transmission to follow through. "Yes, state your number, soldier."_

"_B-3354598, ma'am!" The soldier saluted. Psiah looked down at her._

"_As you were."_

"_M-ma'am, I can't allow you to do this mission on your own! I have graduated top of my class with my highest marks being in stealth and reconnaissance! I can take them out from the shadows while you take them down with the big hits!"_

_Psiah glared down at her, in a way she could tell she was terrified of her even with the helmet obscuring the small Bee's face. "Allow? You don't have the authority to 'allow' anything, 3354598. I gave very specific orders that I won't be needing any assistance."_

"_W-well y-yes, but!-"_

"_But nothing!" Psiah cut her off. "I have my reasons as to why I need to solo this out. So I suggest you follow orders and join the rest of the troops as they prepare to aid Reading Rainbow." Psiah coldly remarked as she cut off the transmission and turned around, tossing her bags into the Yellow Jackket._

_A sad buzz came from the small Bee Soldier's helmet as she walked off. Psiah looked behind her discreetly to see the sad Bee walking away._

Psiah was snapped out of her thoughts when the elevator began shaking. She could feel it begin to descend and picking up speed. She kicked the buttons board in, exposing the wiring. She took her stinger out and sliced some random wires, re-activating the elevator's safety locks, slowing her descent. She kicked off a wall and punched through the roof of the elevator. She didn't have much time until the dolts operating this thing figured out how to disable the locks.

She stood at the top of the elevator looking at the long, upwards tunnel. A door seemed to be pried open to look down on her. She used her whips as a grappling hook to wrap around a few loose wirings. She activated the stinger's natural function to recoil, to sling-shot her up.

She flew up quickly, activating her metallic wings to help control her direction. Once the pried open doors were in her immediate sight she used the wings to do a roll in the air and kick off the wall behind her to launch her through the door. The three guards were too shocked to do anything as she flew at them.

In one swift motion she took her stingers out in blade mode. The two guards in the front grabbed at their necks as blood came out while the one in the back who actually had his gun out had a large 'X' over his chest. The three shattered.

Psiah used almost all her training and discipline to not gush about how awesome that made her look as she stood up. She looked out the window to the outside at her left overlooking the forest that surrounded the building. She looked beyond even further to see the shattering affect slowly taking place far away, slowly destroying the land.

The shrinking of the Anomaly. If caught in it, it's an immediate out. The Grand Hostess designed it this way so people wouldn't wander around too much from the battle-zone and make the battles take much less time than normal, or so she claimed. Psiah remembered that The Hive's own research into the Anomalies revealed that they do this on their own without Melanie's machine. Which means she lied to the public.

"But why?" Psiah thought out loud with a buzz.

"There she is!" A loud voice announced its presence to her earning a throwing knife to the eye for the poor soldier.

She sighed as she began to go through the motions.

* * *

Jannis looked at the screen with a large smile plastered on his face. "That was so cool!"

Everyone else wasn't as pleased.

Generic looked at the man staring at the screen in wonder, with a look of concern. "Jannis, are you sure you want to have _her_ as your rival? I think she'd make a kabob out of you in five seconds…"

Jannis nodded. "Of course! Who else could challenge me in such a way as she!? I have the blessings of my Goddesses while she has pure skill and determination! OUR BATTLE WILL BE LEGENDARY!" Jannis yelled, making everyone in the Commons Area's eyes turn to him.

Generic hides into his cloak as everyone's eyes are on them.

"Damn, if she goes against any of us, we'll be mowed down in a matter of seconds, AAA or not." McDouggal shook his head, changing the subject.

The whole group looked down.

Celtic looked at the group. He sighed. Must it always fall on him to do these stupid motivational acts? "Alright fine! I'll do it!" He walked off.

"Do what?" Strike called after him.

"You'll see!" Celtic yelled as he made his way to the Broadcasting room. "They'll all see it." He brought his Net-Watch up. "Carl," ( ^ u ^ )7 "-compress the recordings."

From the watch shot up a small piece of plastic with four gold lines at the bottom, Celtic caught the card in the air without looking at it. He could feel the crown in his cloak's pocket heating up, but it was mostly in his head, mostly.

"They'll all. See. Change." He ominously said as he turned the corner, bumping into someone and breaking his badass illusion. "Watch where you're going!" He said as he stormed off.

"Slip Snap! You're all right!" Torrasque smiled as the rest of the AAA walked towards the Warrior that Celtic bumped into.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be? It was just a bear. I left whatever was left of him at Pink Rose Gold's base!" Slip Snap said all of this with a straight look on his face.

"See, I told you he'd be fine!" Rade came up and slapped the soldier's back. "Now then, let's go see what the hell that weirdo was talking about!"

Slip Snap tilted his head. "Oh?"

"Celtic stormed off, he said he had a plan to take down the Bees." Torrasque explained to the man.

"Huh, neat!" Slip Snap smiled as he took his bat out.

"Nonono! No bats!" Torrasque tried to take the bat away from Slip Snap as if it were a toy he was not meant to mess with. The White Knight trio walked off.

Strike looked at the scene curiously. Slip Snap looked fine, for someone who just fought a bear that is. The Legion was an odd group of their ragtag faction. Like Whale, the Legion was also a huge part of the reason why the AAA existed and he thanks their actions as their fates collidi-"Wait, did you say you left the Bear in the Pink Rose Gold Docks?!"


	11. Chapter 11

Celtic stomped the halls of the Ship Hall with a determined glare. He could hear the AAA behind him babbling about something or other, but he still kept walking. He knew that if the Bee continued like this, with absolutely no sign of slowing down, the competition was as good as over. People would give up before they even faced the Bees!

He walked into the Broadcasting room and stopped to catch his breath, using this as an opportunity to examine the field.

On his right, several representatives were already talking about the matches going on in three days. He could see Stanley on the far back, near an exit, talking about Smoke being able to take the Bees on. On the left several were just voicing their opinions about the matches including some doing a live feed play by play. He could see the Bee Soldier killing off many more Smoke soldiers.

But he didn't want any of those second-hand stages, he was more concerned with the one being occupied by the weird man in a trench coat with a squirrel in his pocket. _'Another day, another day…' _Celtic had to remind himself why he was here. He looked around a bit more.

The AAA caught up to Celtic as they were mostly goofing off with Slip Snap. "What's the matter with you, Celtic? First you tell us you want to hang with us, then you run off!" Rade spoke up as the group stopped around the man.

Celtic's eye twitched under the stress he was giving himself, but always one to give snide remarks, he turned around. "Okay, 1) I never said that, I said you guys are where most of the interesting stuff happens so, 2) If you guys are getting less interesting, I can and will ditch you." He turned around until he spotted him. Munkee. "And 3), this is bigger than your stupid club." He walked off to the Captain before the group began with their strongly worded complaints.

"Munkee! Hey!" Celtic walked up to the man.

Munkee looked bored. Like he would rather be anywhere else but where he was now. "Hey Celtic…" he turned to his odd friend.

"Munkee, I'll take you up on your offer to pay for my broadcast!"

The Captain rolled his eyes. "Gee. How generous of you." Despite this, he took out his wallet. "So, which one you buying for?"

Celtic smiled. "That one!" he pointed at the center stage.

"I already told you, no! That's way too expensive for a message that isn't even mine!" Munkee began to close his wallet.

Celtic held his hands up to catch his friend's attention. "I know, I know, but! I actually have something that will make this more interesting!"

Munkee stopped putting his wallet up. "Interesting? How?"

As if on cue, the AAA walked up to the two.

"I swear, if he keeps this up, we might just have to actually beat him up!" Rade huffed.

"If we beat him up, we'll be penalized." Torrasque reminded Rade, the Sergeant opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by the Tactician again. "-and yes, penalties transfer over to other participants and future Ship Wars." Rade deflated.

Munkee perked up at the AAA's arrival. "I don't think I've had the pleasure of introducing myself, I am Captain Outcast Munkee, of Eisberg!" he offered a hand forward, Celtic tried to grab Munkee's wallet but the Captain just dodged his hand swipes.

Rade, Whale, and Strike looked at each other before they all tripped over one another to shake the Captain's hand while introducing themselves as the defacto leader, Torrasque face palmed. Munkee's bored expression disappeared watching the group's antics.

Venom stepped forward and shook Munkee's hand while the three began arguing. "Good to meet you, Mr. Munkee. I am the AAA's leader, you may refer to me as Mr. Venom." He stopped shaking the Captain's hand and turned to the shocked three with the most shit-eating grin imaginable.

The three leaders stopped fumbling and stood up straight. "I-It's more of a, group rule." Strike said as he put a hand to his neck.

Rade nodded. "Right, we're a team, we don't need a leader!" he chuckled a bit.

Whale sighed. "I think we're all equal in terms of leadership capabilities so it's fine if we don't have one really good Cetacean leader!"

The AAA stood in awkward silence once more. Celtic broke the silence. "Munkee, just cover me this once! I can change the course of the entire War with this one broadcast!"

Munkee sighed. He turned from the AAA to Celtic. "I know how much you want to take down the Bees and stop oppression and all that, but you have to face the facts, the Bees are gonna win this war." Munkee's bored expression seemed to return.

"Not as easily as right now! You're just rolling over and waiting to die!" Celtic yelled. He began hearing a banging in the back of his head so he began breathing to calm himself down. "…Look, I have something with me right now, that can make this fight much more interesting."

At the word interesting, Munkee's eyes perked up. "What do you have?"

Celtic looked around. "I can't tell you right now, but it involves these guys," he pointed behind him at the AAA. "So you know it will be interesting."

The Captain seemed to mull this over. "Fffff…fine." Munkee offered his wallet to the man but swiped it away at the last second before Celtic could grab it. "But! If you're lying to me and it's not interesting, I'll make you pay back double what you spent!"

Celtic hesitates before grabbing the wallet. "Thanks Munkee! I won't pay you back!" he ran off to the center stage where the shady trench coat guy was still promoting the Bees.

Rade shook his head. "Does that man have no honor?"

Munkee smiled. "In his own way, he does. If he says he's not paying me back, that's his way of saying he won't let me down."

The AAA looked at the captain in a funny way.

"Riiight…" Torrasque made a mental note to avoid direct talk with the odd captain.

Generic looked up at the Rodent Collective's psuedo-human representative on stage eloquently explaining this or that about the hardships the Bees have endured to get to his point. The audience, while listening, had this air of tiredness to them. Listening to this man explain how the Bees deserved this win while watching one brutally kill off hundreds of people was a little off-putting.

Celtic stealthily made his way to the machine next to the stage. The machine had a slot for a card and a screen next to it for entering pins and whatnot. He brought his Net-watch up to the machine and put interface to interface. "Okay Carl, do your magic."

A timer appeared on the interface showing how much time was left on the Rodents' broadcast. 35:42. Celtic backed up a bit from the number. He was buying 5 minutes at most and that was already going to be a hefty price! What kind of dough was this creep rolling in?!

Celtic rolled his eyes as a holo-display of the time and a dial appeared from his watch. He put his hand on the holo-dial and began turning it counter clock-wise, making the timer go down faster until only a minute was left.

As Celtic began to get himself ready for the stage Strike and Whale approached him. "What the heck do you think you're going to accomplish with this? The Bees have won, the report says that there's only a total of five soldiers in the Anomaly Zone anymore! Psiah's going to kill them all!"

The hacker looked concern for a bit before shaking it off and regaining his composure. "I have a plan." Is all he said before he walked to the stage's small staircase. He looked down to his watch and saw 30 seconds left on the man's speech, he looked to Munkee before nodding. Munkee nodded back.

A humming noise came from the machine indicating to the Rodents collective that their time was running out, this however, threw off the flow they had built up as confusion set in. The timer went off, cutting out the broadcast just as the rodents had realized what was going on. Celtic began walking on stage, having deposited Munkee's Karma Card in the machine's slot.

"That was a great speech! Truly, my heart goes out to all the poor Bees for having to put up with shitheads like me." Celtic made the smuggest of smirks as he approached the shady man.

The rodent collective however, didn't seem dissuaded by Celtic's presence. "The machine is broken, there's no way that was the paid time." A voice from the large coat calmly spoke up.

Celtic's smirk wavered for just a second. "Look, I don't know jack about computers and machines so I can't tell you if it's broken, but the thing said it's my turn. So Buzz off."

The disguised rodents didn't move. "But that's not fair. I already paid the amount, should I not get the time I paid for? Or at least a refund?"

"Take it up with administration, I don't make the rules, I just follow them!" Celtic lied.

A security guard approached as the two's discussion became more and more heated. "Is there a problem here?"

Celtic remained calm despite being glared at by the guard, a trick he had managed to teach himself in his line of work. The rodents however became uneasy as the guard looked their disguise over.

"No problem here, I…said what needed to be said. I trust that the people are smart enough not to give into fear and false hysteria." The shady man spoke before walking off stage.

Celtic smiled as he stood at the podium and thanked the security guard.

Generic walked after the disguised rodents. "Rodents!" he called after them. They turned the machine to face the young Strategist, holding a finger up to their not mouth. Generic immediately covered his mouth. "Oh, sorry!" he got close so he didn't need to yell.

The disguise suit stayed in place.

"I'm sorry about Celtic, Porcupine. I just met him, but from what I can tell, he's always like this…"

The disguise took the fedora off to reveal not a porcupine but a chipmunk in its stead. "Strategist, Porcupine would like me to inform you that he is not at the moment in the suit but rather in the collective's suite." Upon closer inspection, Generic could see a small earpiece on the chipmunk's ear.

"Oh…uh, cool. Can you tell him I said sorry about Celtic?"

A small, high pitched noise very similar to a babble came from the small earpiece. "Porcupine would like to inform you that he can hear you, so there is no need for that."

"Oh…cool. Well, it's been fun-"

"It has not."

"-…I'm…gonna go now…" Generic said as he began to back away. He didn't know what, but something told him that something was off with the small rodent. Or it could just be that he was still upset about the center broadcast stage.

Celtic looked at the Net-cast screen installed on the podium before hitting the _Broadcast _button. He saw a holographic sphere send itself out above the small crowd that had begun to form around his stage.

"Good people of the Sub, you know me, you know what I will say. It seems that for some people, this competition is as good as over." He made a quick glance at Munkee's direction before he began pacing on stage, the holo-sphere followed him a bit. "But! Are we just going to give the win over to the Bees because they might as well win this year? No! I don't know about you, but I'm not about to just bend over and take this!"

Some people began to walk away from Celtic's stage, having heard the same thing a million times from him or other representatives, today or in competitions past. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Smoke was facing an uphill battle, if this was just one Bee, imagine a whole army.

Celtic saw the people leave and could feel rage. "…FINE! Walk away! You leave because you don't think it's your problem, because Smoke isn't the best ship out there and they should fall! And they aren't the best ship and they should fall! But! You are dead wrong that this is not your problem!" Celtic walked over to the podium before inserting the SD card he made a few minutes ago into a slot.

A holographic video of the injured Smoke soldiers appeared. A gasp emerged from the crowd. The people who were leaving returned and people from other stages, including a few representatives began to gather around Celtic.

"Celtic…" Strike looked at the scene in shock. There, for everyone to see, was the AAA and Celtic looking at the harmed Smoke soldiers.

Murmurs indicated to Celtic that he had the crowd's attention. "What you are seeing is footage of the medical wing in our very own ship hall, not even thirty minutes ago. This is what the one Bee did to these soldiers. Many of them are in critical condition. Many sustaining deep cuts that will become scars." Celtic began pacing. "All that you see, is happening to these soldiers right now!" he pointed to the crowd. "AND IT WILL HAPPEN TO YOUR SOLDIERS TOO!"

The murmurs intensified. "And, if you're not in the same bracket, you will eventually be, at least if you wish to win this competition. You will have to face the Bees, and they will have you in this hospital room dying." Celtic spoke in a harsh tone

"The Bees are not suffering," he pointed to the video of the soldiers nearly dead. "THESE SOLDIERS ARE SUFFERING!" he yelled to the crowd. "Smoke may fall, yes. They're chances of winning are non-existent. But! If we stand up to these Bees, we can show that we will not just take this lying down!" he completely wrapped the crowd up with his words, they clung off of every last letter he said. "We can throw a rock at them and it will do nothing. But we can throw many rocks at them, and they will have to notice us, and we can damage them!"

A few agreeing whoops and yeahs from the crowd.

"You at home, those that cannot fight, have an even greater power; you can vote against these Bees! You can tell them to their faces, that they cannot just take what they want as if they have a right to it! If they WANT that prize, they will have to rip it out of our clawing, biting embrace!"

Many agreeing murmurs from the crowd.

"So! People of this good Subreddit, who believe in the sacredness that is the spirit of the competition! The thrill of the fight! Let's give em' hell!" Celtic said with great spirit, getting the crowd caught up in it too. Many took their Net devices out and began to vote.

As Celtic realized his five minutes were almost up, he raised a fist in the air, and the crowd did the same. He walked off stage and was greeted to Munkee with his arms crossed. "Well, that was interesting." He smiled.

Celtic returned the smile. "I always aim to please."

The AAA walked up to Celtic and Munkee.

"Impressive." Rade said as he nodded.

"You did always have a knack for rounding up people for hopeless causes." Strike shook his head.

Celtic smirked. "Oh really?"

Strike rolled his eyes as he pulled up his Net-pad and showed it to Celtic. "Yeah. The last Smoke soldier died in the middle of your speech, now all those votes are going to nobody."

Celtic made a motion to follow him, Munkee and the AAA did as such.

"Hey Strike, or Whale I honestly don't care at this point, do you know how much of a boost in Bragg Renora got because of the Mech scene?" Celtic smiled.

Whale spoke up. "Well, near-canonization and a very intimate moment, I would guess around at least a million Bragg units."

"Close! At the end of Volume four we decided to use the Investor Clause that the Mods offered." He smirked as he led the group through a pair od double doors to the outside showing the parking area. "From the looks of it, we were the only ones in the Big Four to actually comply."

"Investor Clause?" Rade asked to no one in particular.

"Around the end of Volume 3 we saw a widespread of deletion and just outright desertion for many ships. The Sub's economy went down drastically, and so the Mod Council needed Bragg." Generic began explaining. "They offered a plan that promised the return of their Bragg units with interest depending on how far the Ships would go canon wise. The main problem was that the prices to begin were high and the decision for what was canon is decided by the mods."

"And the mods each might have a different idea of the worth of each canon moment, so the value you invested might not be as big as you thought." Jannis added in.

Generic nodded. "The Kingdom of Lancaster voted and we decided to do so around the middle of Volume 4. We still have the investment in, we're waiting until we become canon, and then we'll have enough Bragg to fully afford another planet and maybe even a Spot in the Big Four!" Generic smiled.

The Arkosians and Jannis became slightly uneasy, but it was actually Rade who stopped the young Strategist from rambling.

"Yeah, sure you are, ya' nut!" Rade ruffled the Strategist's hair, much to his protests. The relaxed ambient returned.

"If you guys are done with your family values," Celtic interrupted as he stood behind a ship, his personal ship. "Watch this."

Celtic pantomimed a remote control in the palm of his hand. "3…2…1…GO!" he pushed the fake button and a ship took off towards the Smoke portal.

"What the hell!?" Strike asked as he looked at the ship disappear into the Anomaly Portal.

"Now then, the Kingdom of Renora decided that if we are to have a leg up in future competitions, we need to study the competition itself." He began walking back inside, ignoring the confused group. "So I sprung for a brand-spanking-new research program, this one centered around the study of the Anomaly Portals and their mysterious ways, we even took out our investment to fund some of its more…advanced tests."

Celtic walked past the entrance of the Broadcasting room, the AAA and Munkee following behind him, curious as to where this was all going.

"Now, I won't tell you all my findings as I will have to charge you a small providence for the info but I can tell you that a few months into the project, we had a security breach." Celtic walked into the Commons area. "Well, two actually. One I was unable to trace back but one was so obvious, I almost felt bad for the crappy thief, until I realized I could gain more from what the little pest than if I just went and eviscerated him myself." Celtic made an evil sneer as he arrived at the AAA's table.

"What did they find that's so important, and who found it?" Strike looked down at the hacker.

Celtic kept his eyes on the screen. "The Anomaly Portals have an odd factor in their basic composure; they can distinguish sides and decide certain factors to collect their Bragg, but only if they have certain energy amounts in them. We carry that energy from our world into the Anomaly Zone with our bodies, and that's how an Anomaly War can have sides."

"That's basic Anomaly theory at this point, nice use of your Bragg uni." Whale smirked.

"Okay, then I'm guessing it's also Basic theory that certain things we bring in also have energy signals that transfer to specific things in the Zones? Or that the Anomaly Portal Connection Machine can and has been sending energy signals to Anomaly Portals to give power ups to both sides? Or that those energy signals can also change the way the game is played?"

Whale's smirk went away.

"Yeah didn't think so." Celtic shook his head. "I had a hunch but that ship leaving just now confirmed my hunch, I found my two thieves." Celtic glared at the screen.

Several confused looks from the group. Generic's eyes widened. "The Bees and Smoke."

"Hey, you do have a brain in there, Newbie!" Generic sighed at the man's remark. "But yeah, I know for a fact that Smoke took some of my data, but this match with the Bees confirms my suspicions." Celtic pressed on his Net-watch making a holo display of a paper pop-up. "Turns out this energy that gets sent into the portal is dispersed evenly into the soldiers participating, it can boost their physical prowess."

Celtic realized that there was still some food left on the table from before the AAA embarked on their little side-quest, he picked up an apple off of Vaniellis' plate and took a bite out of it. "Nmph.." he swallowed. "Now," he repeated without the food in his mouth. ", what do you think happens to all that energy without many soldiers to disperse evenly into? What if there's only one?"

"Then the one soldier gets the strength of what a thousand would have…" Vaniellis speaks up.

"They'd be on par to almost one of us." Cayde looks to Vaniellis and Whale.

Whale shakes his head. "No…I think with as much energy as the Bees can muster up, they can surpass us…me…by a lot." The aquatic mammalian king looks down at the ground and clenches his fist. "Damn it. Those soldiers in the infirmary, no wonder their pain transferred the way it did."

"If they got hit with as much as they did," Torrasque put a hand to his chin to think. "it would make sense that their injuries would transfer over much more gravely than a normal fight. And if what Celtic says is true, then what little energy Smoke has on its own-"

"-is keeping them alive." Venom cut in.

Munkee looked at the group with a raised eyebrow. "Do you guys normally do that?"

The group turned to Munkee. "Do what?" Strike asked as he looked around at the group.

"That. The whole, everybody shares some information in order, type of thing…you guys don't see that?" The AAA looked at each other before shaking their heads. "Huh, interesting."

"Hey, can we go back to you guys realizing how much of a genius I am?!" Celtic called the group to attention. "Now, if I'm correct, and I am, that was Stanley's personal ship and all the votes that I just collected for him, will power him up." Celtic turned back to the screen. "Who knows? Maybe he'll actually put up a fight?"

At that moment Torrasque's Net-Pad went off. "Uh…one sec, got to take this one." He walked away from the group as they all turned to the screen in anticipation. Torrasque picked up the call. "Hello?"

"Ah! Torrasque! Thank GODS you picked up, we've been trying to reach Mr. Blunner for 15 minutes!" Samshazam's hurried voice spoke from the other end of the call.

Torrasque looked behind him to see Rade focused on the screen. "Yeah, Rade often leaves his Net-Pad in the AAA conference room. What's up?"

"W-well, Mr. Slip Snap showed up a while ago d-dragging in a-"

Torrasque sighed. "A bear corpse, yeah. So sorry about that." He looks behind himself once more to look at Slip Snap focused on the screen. "Look, we'll be there the second the Bee-Smoke War is over, just…don't get it on the carpet, make sure not to touch it, and please, for all that is holy, keep it away from Rade's personal fighter jet!"

"Tortilla!" Celtic called out. "Come on! We're about to watch shit hit the fan!"

"I gotta go, good luck!"

"But si-" the call cut off. Sam looked at his Net-pad before sighing. "No luck guys, Torrasque said we just need to keep it away from our stuff."

"Well we can't do that!" Slip Snap said with a smile as he stood atop of the bear's corpse. "How else are we going to have Bear Stew if we can't touch the cooking supplies?!"


	12. Chapter 12

Psiah approached the large, foreboding metal doors. Every other room on the final floor had been checked, except for the one hiding behind these doors. Her eyes wandered to the keypad next to the door alongside a card swipe slot. She only had the low-level grunt's ID so she doubted it would give her clearance to the room containing the flag.

'_Plan B it is_'

Pulling her arm back, the Bee soldier took a deep breath in before flicking her wrist and sending her stinger into the control panel of the door. A jolt of electricity made its way up her stinger giving her a slight convulsion before the energy gave out and short-circuited causing the door to open up. Psiah cracked her neck before walking through the door into the room.

The room was dark, lit up only by a machine in the center of the room holding a tank with a slightly clear, green liquid suspending a disk-like object in the middle of it. The Flag. In all her years of fighting in these wars she knew that the flag could take any shape or form, but it was almost always giving off huge Energy signals. Still, she had to make sure. It would be defeat the purpose of her mission and statement to the world if she made it all this way and destroyed the wrong object.

Pressing a button on the side of her helmet, a simple heat vision feature activated making her vision a mixture of red, blue, and orange hues.

Several machines with monitors and tanks and large wires are placed to the wall, each giving off some heat as they power the main tank in the center of the room. The tank looked normal, and while the liquid in the tank was near freezing, the disc-like object was glowing hot red.

"Bingo." Psiah buzzed into her helmet.

The Bee soldier took great satisfaction as she looked around at the empty lab. The fact that no other idiot was running up to try to take her out indicated to Psiah that she either killed off all the pests or they learned their lesson and stayed away.

A loud roaring noise from somewhere alerted Psiah that she was not alone, and that whatever was coming at her hadn't learned a lesson. She back flipped in time to avoid a rather large ship crashing into the building, breaking into the Lab room. The whole building shook causing Psiah's balance to be thrown off upon landing, making her prone.

Psiah looked up from the ground to see the ship's latch open from the side as the dust began to settle. A man in a dusty grey uniform steps out from the ship before pushing a button on his watch, closing the ship. Psiah stayed on the floor, sizing him up.

He looked average, normal. Not even high-ranking by the looks of his jacket. A representative at best, medium level grunt at worst. But Psiah knew that it would be careless to underestimate a foe by looks alone, a concealed weapon is all it takes to foil this plan.

With an impressive burst of speed he rushes and looms over the fallen Bee soldier. "You've hurt so many of my people, this is your comeuppance, wretched Wasp."

Psiah looked at the man with a confusion. Who the hell?

Before Psiah can react with a swift stab of her stinger, he picks her up by the helmet, throwing her off guard by how easily he managed to do so, and throws her with great force at the ship blocking a huge hole on the wall leading to the outside.

Psiah feels the air get knocked out of her lungs as she hits the ship, she's surprised by the pain she's actually feeling, if the information the Hive had given her was correct, she should be unstoppable!

She doesn't have much time to think, however, as the ship creaks back because of the new force and falls back through the hole it had made upon impact. Psiah immediately kicks upwards to stand up and uses the falling ship as a jumping platform, barely allowing her to recover and avoid the 50-foot drop. Her hand grabs at a bent pipe hanging off the side, making her dangle on the side of the building.

"You're still alive." The man looked down at the Bee with a look of almost pity. "I saw the recordings, I recognized them all. My brethren, people I trained with all my life, all of them on death's door." He glared at the Bee Soldier and spoke through clenched teeth. "All because of you."

"…" Psiah remained silent.

"I don't know what I expected of you. More of a fight? More words? A plea or two? Pathetic. I forget that sometimes you Bees have had the emotions brainwashed out of you." His glare remained.

A plan began to form in the back of her mind as she looked at another pipe above the crater.

The face plates on her helmet pulled back showing her insect-like face and antennae. "Oh we still feel something. For example, I felt immense joy at every last one of your puny friends I sliced through while you probably cowered away from the action!"

The man's face contorted to one of rage. "Look upon my face Bee, remember it. For I, Stanley, will snuff out the Bees from this competition because of your arrogance." Stanley lifted his foot before bringing it down, aiming for Psiah's hand still resiliently holding onto the pipe.

In a small window of opportunity, Psiah kicked off the side of the building and released her grip on the pipe. As Stanley was processing this, the Bee soldier used her stinger whip to cling to the top pipe above Stanley and retracted it, slingshoting her back into the building

As Stanley looked up, he saw a combat boot enter his field of vision before he was sent flying back. After landing on the floor he looked up and saw Psiah standing at the crater's entrance. The sun began rising a bit behind her making her look like an ominous silhouette, her purple hair slipping out of the helmet slowly before flowing in the wind.

The last Smoke Soldier stood up. "I will defeat you."

Psiah's stinger became sword-like again.

"Blades, huh? I got one as well, state of the art technology too. Basically destroyed my 15 years' savings on it." Stanley took out what seemed to be a hilt of an antique sword, with a large hole in the middle. "The Smoke Sabre. Name aside, it's pretty badass." A hissing sound started to emit from the hilt, Stanly pointed the hilt downwards.

Small bits of rubble and dust began to gravitate towards the hilt before making a loose form of a long sword. "I can make a sword appear at anytime I want, and the more I destroy, the more powerful my sword becomes!"

Psiah stared him down as the Smoke Sabre began to compress more and more rubble, making a slight swirl of dirt and dust around the blade. "…you talk too much." She simply said as she took a battle-ready stance.

"...hmph." Stanley glared.

Stanley charged at the Bee soldier with his blade drawn. Psiah parried his attack, but with more difficulty than she'd expected. After a while of blocking attacks and parrying a few, Psiah began to make her own attacks. The Smoke Soldier, however, was keeping up. Psiah ducked under a swing before rolling away from a downward stab.

Psiah actually felt tired, this one soldier was almost matching her, which should be impossible unless… "You know as well, don't you? The cheat."

"Hm, yes I do. We happened to find a loose file here and there from a smug bird's nest." He smiled as he looked at the Bee. "But we only slipped in when something much bigger made a hole for us to slide by. So thanks for that, I guess." Stanley's blade continued to build and fix itself as Psiah's stinger blade had chipped off a lot of bits.

"…what are you talking about? The Hive experimented and researched Anomaly Portals well over 2 years before they informed us." Psiah glared at the man.

"Hmph, sure. Or, and hear me out on this one, they lied to you. I know for a fact that something powerful breached Renora's database. It's how we were able to get in."

Psiah's eyes narrowed down to a glare. "You speak lies."

"Or I speak truths and all you know are lies."

"ENOUGH!" Psiah yells as she makes her second stinger come out of her sleeves. "This has gone on long enough!"

Stanley smiled. "That it has." He pressed a button on his hilt as the rubble ignited into a bright spark before solidifying into a dusty and jagged crystalline material.

Stanley and Psiah charged at each other, each with their blades drawn. As Psiah tries to wrap her stinger around his neck, Stanley barely dodges by ducking but doesn't escape the wide slash across his torso, ripping off much of the Smoke Soldier's uniform. In between Psiah's wide swings Stanley chips away at the Bee soldier's armor around the abdomen with multiple stabs.

The two keep this cycle up for a while, Psiah's wild yet elegant slashes pitted against Stanley's powerful stabs until finally Psiah actually feels a pain in her stomach, she backflips away using both of her whip stingers to keep some distance between her and Stanley. Stanley cautiously waits for an opening in her whips.

In a split second Psiah slows down to look at her stomach, as blood begins to gush out of a rigid tear in her armor. That slow down was just what Stanley had waited for however and he presses another button on his hilt.

The jagged crystallized blade shoots out in a burst of speed slipping past Psiah's whips and plunging into the newly exposed gash. Psiah yelps in pain as the blade enters her, she stops her whips immediately and begins to clutch her hand around the wound and the crystal. Panic consumes her as the Smoke soldier begins to approach, a new Smoke Sabre already forming on his hilt.

"It's over, Wasp. When you wake up in the infirmary, shunned by your other worker bees for your loss, know it was because of your arrogance that you failed."

Psiah growled as she used her whip and once more aimed for the man's head. Stanley anticipated this, however, and brought his hand up, making the whip wrap itself around his palm instead. Stanley pulled hard on the whip, dragging Psiah's body up before he used his free hand to punch the Bee down immediately. Psiah left a small crater on the floor before coiling in pain.

Stanley's hand bled even more as he clenched his fist around the whip, crushing it before letting go. The machine in Psiah's suit, sensing a problem in one of the stingers, immediately recoiled both whips back into her sleeves.

"See, even now you don't see your error! Look around you! You are alone." Stanley gestures around at the empty and mostly destroyed lab room, the tank right next to both of them. Psiah begins to crawl back while keeping a death glare on the man. "You made your announcement to the whole sub, you would crush what you considered a weak ship with no help whatsoever. Well, look how that turned out for you!"

Psiah could feel some blood begins to build in the back of her throat, a bloody cough escapes her lips as she looks from the man to the crystal blade still lodged into her, if she could just…!

Stanley notices that she was reaching for the crystal before sighing and stomping on the jagged thing, further pushing it into the Bee Soldier. Psiah howls in pain as she could feel the jagged crystal sinking even more.

"You just don't know when to quit, huh? That's the thing with you Wasps, you think you're better than everyone else, even if you're on the losing side! Everyone is always wrong, except you. So you separate yourselves from the rest of the sub; being the first ship to acquire their own planet, not contributing to the Sub's economy when they need it the most, the Wasp Riots!"

Psiah barely focuses on the man's speech from all the pain, but talk of the Wasp Riots begins to anger her. "That was not The Hive's fault! We never condoned the action of those Bees!"

Stanley rolled his eyes as he lifts his boot before bringing it down again, quieting the Bee. "Well you didn't condemn them either! See, as far as the Hive is concerned, the rest of us can go fuck ourselves and die in a ditch for all they care!" he pushes more, eliciting more painful growls from Psiah.

"But sooner or later, you Wasps will need to recognize that you can never do this alone. Isolating yourself can only bring more and more people to see you as the enemy. Look around, if the bodies of my comrades stayed, you'd see hundreds of my comrades piling up on the floor. I wouldn't be alone, even in death. But you?" Stanley chuckles and glares down at the Bee. "Will fight and die...alone."

"That's what you think!" a voice calls out.

Stanley turns in time to see a bullet whiz past his ear, hitting the tank behind him letting a burst of green gas cover him. A growl of pain erupts from Stanley as the cold takes his side, he contorts away from it out of instinct loosening his step on the crystal, Psiah yanks herself out of the man's step, slightly dragging the jagged crystal down and cutting her more, but she avoids the freezing gas from hitting her.

As Stanley begins to reach out for Psiah he freezes on the spot with a cracking noise as a thick layer of ice begins to form around him

Psiah turns to the doorframe to see a small Bee soldier with a sniper rifle pointed at Stanley. Immediately she recognizes her. "B-3354598?! I _ordered _you to stay back!" Psiah tries to stand up to angrily scold her subordinate, the agonizing pain in her abdomen impeded her, however.

The Bee soldier rushes over with a med pack out. "Hold still Miss Psiah, you've been gravely injured!" she stands kneels down next to Psiah who's bleeding out.

A crackle begins to come from the Stanley ice statue. "B! Look out!" Psiah points behind the Soldier helping her.

The small Bee soldier turned around while taking a knife out of her shoulder sheath. Stanley burst out of his ice casing and stared down at the Bee soldier with an angry expression and battered breaths. She jumps up and makes a slash for the man's neck only to be backhanded by the juiced-up Smoke soldier.

B-3354598 is sent flying towards a back wall at fast speeds before crashing into her side. A sickening crunch sound is heard as she hits that wall, leaving a sizeable crater in it before she collapses on the ground. "AHH!" B-3354598 cries out in pain as she looks at her arm, a mess of jagged directions as the arm feels numb.

"YOU BASTARD!" Psiah yells from her place on the ground.

Stanley is barely able to react as Psiah, with a renewed spirit of vengeance lunges at him. Stanley breaks his feet loose and high kicks at Psiah only for the Bee soldier to duck and grab his leg. In a burst of strength, Psiah flings Stanley over her shoulder, throwing him closer to the hole on the wall leading to the outside of the building.

Stanley stands up, a little disoriented and unable to stop Psiah's tackle.

Both of the super soldiers begin to fall back into the outside. Psiah's wings activated, giving her a bit of a glide. Psiah punched the still disorientated Stanley down as she falls a little above him. Stanley comes to his senses after the fifth punch and reaches up to choke the Bee soldier wailing on him. Psiah reaches for the crystal lodged into her, air supply slowly cutting out, she pulls it out letting a torrent of blood gush out, and slices at Stanley's jugular.

The Smoke Soldier's eyes widen as a sudden pain is felt all throughout his body. He increases his strength on Psiah's neck but shatters into nothingness.

Psiah takes a deep breath before leaning her body back to ease her landing a bit more. After crashing through some branches Psiah looked up at the skyscraper she just fell out of, she could feel herself weakening by the second as the blood kept pouring out of her. The Bee soldier activates her helmet once more before pressing the Net-Comm link. "B-3354598…ergh..come in…"

"Miss Psiah! Thank Goddesses you're alive! I was so-"

"SHUT UP!" Psiah growls into her Net-Comm before kneeling down on one knee. "Ergh…I don't have much time…B-3354598, destroy the flag…it's the orange disk in the tank…don't touch the freezy things…" Gods, she was feeling so tired. "Look, just…destroy it…" Psiah's legs gave out and she collapsed on the floor before closing her eyes and hearing a shattering noise.

* * *

"Well, it was a nice attempt but you still failed." Sergeant Rade Blunner said as he slyly handed Generic a 20 Karma bill. "So, Captain Munkee, how much does Celtic owe you exactly? I just want to know so I can make fun of him for it."

Munkee shook his head. "No need." He looked up at the screen as the remaining Bee soldier with the broken arm crawled her way to the disk-like object encased in ice. "That fight was interesting as hell and I have no doubt that Celtic will start rambling in a bit about how his master keikaku worked perfectly." Munkee smiled.

"Keikaku?" Slip-Snap asked with a confused look on his face.

"Translator's note: Keikaku means plan." Torrasque calmly explains while focusing on the screen as the Bee soldier begins firing shots into the block of ice, trying to hit the flag.

"Yes, it _did_ actually go according to plan." Celtic says in a matter-of-factly way. "I knew that idiot Stanley would never be able to take on a juiced-up Bee. He got lucky if anything else. But what this showed is that they can be hurt." Celtic laughs as he stands up. He takes out a pocket watch and begins swinging it like a pendulum. "The Bees wanted to use this opportunity to show that they can easily take the prize, make a statement of how powerful they were. But with their "super soldier" dead thanks to the people's efforts and the only one left to finish the job is…well, her." Celtic gestures to the Bee soldier with a broken arm still shooting bullets at the ice with little success. "It sends an equally powerful message back!"

Celtic pulls back the watch and stuffs it into one of his cloak's pockets. "They might take the prize, but they damn well better expect us to put up one hell of a fight, leaving them like that."

A cheer erupts from behind the AAA. The members turn to see a large group of representatives cheering on Celtic with claps and whistles.

"Now that is impressive." Generic says under his breath as he sees Celtic walk towards the praise of the crowd.

As Celtic continues to accept the praise, Melanie and her group approach. The AAA and Munkee scatter. Melanie clears her throat. "*ahem* Mr. Crown."

Celtic turns slowly to the Grand hostess. "…shit…"

* * *

Psiah opens her eyes slowly. Several machines are attached to her, one checking her vital signs. She sits up with a groan.

"Oh! Miss Psiah, you shouldn't do that so soon!" A voice calls out from the bed next to hers.

Psiah turns to the source to find the Bee soldier who saved her life…wearing a large cast on her arm. "…How…long" she awkwardly points at the cast.

B-3354598 looks from her commander to the cast. "Oh, this? Just a month! I'll be back in tip-top shape and shooting bad guys in no-time Miss Psiah!" she says with a smile.

Psiah looks down at the cast before taking in a deep breath. Stanley's words of failure and it being her fault, replay in her head. "No…you won't." Psiah sits up straighter, despite the bandages and pain in her stomach telling her not to. "Soldier B-3354598, you disobeyed direct orders from your superior. I will have you barred until the 3 Round."

"What?! No, that's not fair! I saved you! You could've actually been seriously hurt!"

"Yes, and instead you were hurt for not following directions." Psiah coldly said.

"But Miss! I did it for you!"

"My decision is final. You will sit out any fights Bumblebee may be involved in until the Third round. If you cannot even follow these instructions, I will see to it that your entire career is revaluated by the High Commission. Am. I. Clear?"

B-3354598 looks down at the floor, trying to choke back some tears. "C-crystal…"

Psiah looks away from the sad Bee soldier's face to look out the window. The Anomaly portals slowly shrink, more and more. Psiah glares at the space where the portals stood. A deep, cold feeling rises from the pit of her stomach, as if someone was stepping on her grave.


End file.
